GUILTY WA - Seattle bus, duck boat crash leaves four dead, dozens injured, Sept 2015

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BBM


“Ride the Ducks retrofitted a World War II vintage amphibious vehicle to take passengers on tours, and they knew in 2013 that there was a problem with its axle,” attorney John Scholbe said Monday. “But that word and warning did not get to the Seattle Duck company and no repairs were made.”
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Ride the Ducks International of Atlanta, which refurbished and sold the vehicle in 2005 to the independently owned Seattle Ducks firm, has said it distributed a safety advisory in 2013 for 57 Duck vehicles operating throughout the nation, including the Duck later involved in the Seattle crash.
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http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/korean-student-files-suit-over-true-horror-of-ducks-crash/

The complaint accuses the company of operating at least one of its World War II-era vehicles in an “unsafe manner.”

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/ride-the-ducks-vehicles-will-no-longer-use-aurora-bridge/


Just happened to have seen this information in these articles.
 
That remains to be seen.

In its complaint, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), which regulates commercial passenger carriers statewide, alleges the Seattle excursion firm violated various federal safety laws and state rules.
“While the cause of the accident has not been identified, any number of factors may have contributed to it, including the company’s maintenance of its vehicles, driver safety or other operational issues,” the UTC’s complaint filed late Tuesday states. “Until staff conducts a comprehensive investigation of the company’s safety practices, the scope of potential safety issues cannot be established.”
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BBM

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/state-alleges-duck-in-crash-was-operated-in-unsafe-manner/

It will not let me cut and paste but here is a link to the complaint:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2436617-ride-the-ducks-utc-complaint.html


Ran across this in my link search:

The Duck involved in the crash, identified by the Coast Guard as Duck No. 6, was built in 1945 and last refurbished in 2005, the NTSB’s Weener said.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/5th-crash-victim-dies-ntsb-says-duck-did-not-receive-recommended-safety-fix/


To their credit the tour operators have made statements expressing their horror which is certainly appropriate but the overlooking of the service bulletin is still troubling. According to reports they are fully cooperating.

But I wonder were other service bulletins [if there were any] also not repaired?


Brian Tracey, chief executive of Ride the Ducks of Seattle, said in a statement read to reporters late Sunday evening that the company is “working to understand what happened” regarding the recommended fix. “We are absolutely heartbroken by this news,” he said of the crash, offering his condolences to the families of the victims.
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http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/5th-crash-victim-dies-ntsb-says-duck-did-not-receive-recommended-safety-fix/


IMO
 
Jade said:
That remains to be seen. BBM
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...-duck-in-crash-was-operated-in-unsafe-manner/
It will not let me cut and paste but here is a link to the complaint:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2436617-ride-the-ducks-utc-complaint.html
Ran across this in my link search:

The Duck involved in the crash, identified by the Coast Guard as Duck No. 6, was built in 1945 and last refurbished in 2005, the NTSB’s Weener said.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...-duck-did-not-receive-recommended-safety-fix/

To their credit the tour operators have made statements expressing their horror which is certainly appropriate but the overlooking of the service bulletin is still troubling. According to reports they are fully cooperating.

But I wonder were other service bulletins [if there were any] also not repaired?
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...-duck-did-not-receive-recommended-safety-fix/ IMO
Click to expand...

Jade
Thank you very much for bringing info & link to this thread about Seattle Ducks fleet & crashed vehicle, in particular.
Glad to have info from NTSB re age of the Duck involved.

("The Duck involved in the crash, identified by the Coast Guard as Duck No. 6, was built in 1945 and last refurbished in 2005, the NTSB’s Weener said." <---BBM
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-...ed-safety-fix/)

Appears one or more sites I quoted had misleading info (at best) or perhaps plain wrong as to the entire Seattle fleet.
Thanks again for sourced info.
 
Two months later, victim of Ride the Ducks crash struggles with recovery, expenses

Phuong Dinh, 18, and her lawyer say the initial response of aid has since subsided.

She suffered a broken leg and arm. Now, four surgeries later and more than two months after the crash, Dinh spends her days in a Central District nursing facility slogging toward recovery and worrying about her future.

An initial outpouring of concern from college administrators, city officials and the community has seemed to vanish, she and her lawyer said Wednesday. As donations have dwindled, and with her health insurance set to lapse in a month, Dinh and her family wonder how they’ll be able to cover her health care that is likely to extend for months, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“I think that the community has forgotten us,” Dinh told a crowd of media gathered in a physical-therapy gym at Seattle Keiro, a nursing facility. “When I was in the hospital, some people came to visit. But now less and less people. They stop coming. I don’t have any support anymore.”
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Two months later, victim of Ride the Ducks crash struggles with recovery, expenses
 
Ride the Ducks resumes tours in Seattle

SEATTLE -- Ride the Ducks Seattle is back on the road offering tours again for the first time since a tragic accident killed five people on the Aurora Bridge.

It&#8217;s been nearly four months since that deadly crash but now the company has new safety measures in place, and the tour boats have a new route.

&#8220;We&#8217;re thrilled,&#8221; said RTDS CEO Brian Tracey. &#8220;Absolutely thrilled that we&#8217;re up and running.&#8221;
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Ride the Ducks resumes tours in Seattle
 
Ride the Ducks of Seattle admits to safety violations, agrees to pay $222K penalty

SEATTLE -- State transportation officials announced Thursday that Ride the Ducks of Seattle, LLC has agreed to pay a $222,000 penalty to resolve the pending complaint against the company.

The company admitted to violating 463 motor carrier safety rules that were identified in Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission staff&#8217;s 2015 investigation -- 159 of them are classified as acute or critical to protecting public safety. The remaining 304 violations were related to recordkeeping.

Commission staff and the company propose the UTC suspend $111,600 of the penalty associated with the recordkeeping violations, only if the company does not violate acute, critical, or alcohol and controlled substance testing requirements for 24 months.

The agreement will go before the three-member commission who will either approve, modify or reject the agreement.
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Ride the Ducks of Seattle admits to safety violations, agrees to pay $222K penalty
 
al66pine said:
KaaBoom

Thanks for updating w ^ link. That is a lotttttta violations and many, many operating & safety violations.
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Yeah, what bothers me, is that nobody has done anything to help the victims yet. The state got their money for the fines, the CEO is “thrilled” that they are back up and running, and the victims haven’t gotten anything yet.

In my opinion any settlement should have required the company to settle with the victims, before they can even think of starting up business again.
 
*Related* (Didn't think this required it's own thread, but thought someone may be interested)

&#8203;Boston duck boat crash kills woman on scooter in Massachusetts
A 29-year-old woman has died after the scooter she was driving was struck by an amphibious sightseeing vehicle in downtown Boston.

The crash happened around 11:30 a.m. Saturday right near public park Boston Common.

(...)

The cause of the crash is under investigation.
No further details were immediately available.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/boston-duck-boat-crash-kills-woman-scooter-massachusetts/
 
Pictured: The 29-year-old insurance underwriter who was hit and killed by a duck boat as she rode her scooter in Boston

Allison Warmuth, 29, was killed in a collision with a duck boat in Boston

Warmuth was riding on scooter when the vehicle crashed into her

Her friend, a 32-year-old man, was also on moped but not seriously injured

The boat was reportedly carrying 20 people at the time of the crash


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...iding-motor-scooter-Boston.html#ixzz47TRGymK0
 
Are duck boats death traps?
Lawyer: Vehicle dangerous on land, sea

Philadelphia attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, who litigated a 2010 case in which two tourists drowned in the Delaware River and a 2015 case in which a Philadelphia pedestrian was struck and killed, told the Herald, “Duck boats are death traps on land and on sea.

“They’re too wide. They take up an entire city lane. They have huge blind spots because of their bow. They’re dangerous on water because the canopies trap people,” Mongeluzzi said. “They were never designed to drive on urban streets, they were designed to invade countries from the seas.”
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Are duck boats death traps?
 
A trial over a fatal Ride the Ducks crash in Seattle three years ago begins Monday.

Earlier this year, the City of Seattle settled with 12 of the victims' families for more than $2 million.

In the lawsuit for Monday’s trial, there are questions whether the city and state could have prevented the crash with safety improvements on the Aurora Bridge.

The trial is expected to last four to five months.

Trial for fatal Ride the Ducks crash begins Monday
 
A jury has awarded about $123 million to the victims and families of a 2015 duck boat crash that killed five college students and injured more than 60 others in Seattle.

After a four-month civil trial, King County Superior Court jurors found that Ride The Ducks International bore 67 to 70 percent of the responsibility for the crash,

Jury awards $123M to victims in Seattle duck boat crash
 
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