- Home
- About Us
- Major Victories
- Contact UsCharities
- Lawyer Profiles
- Auto Accidents
- Birth Injuries
- Brain Injuries
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Civil Rights
- Medical Malpractice
- Mass Tort/Drugs
- Premises Liability
- Product Liability
- Slip and Fall
- Whistleblower Suits
- Workplace Injuries
- Appellate Practice
- About Our Fees
- En Español
- On Television
- Trial As Theatre
- Classes/Seminars
- Careers
- Personal Injury Blog
- Follow Us On Twitter
- Receive Our E-letters
- Table of Contents
Our Locations
- Pennsylvania Address
(215) 772-1000 - New Jersey Address
(856) 662-1180 - New York Address
(212) 533-7300 - Google Map
Boat Accident Lawsuits
Pennsylvania - New Jersey - New York - Nationwide
There are nearly 5,000 boating accidents in the United States each year and they very often tend to be serious, with more than 3,000 injuries and 736 deaths reported in 2009, the last year for which statistics were available from the U.S. Coast Guard.
Smaller, open motorboats accounted for the largest number of accidents and the causes were most often inattention, inexperience, excessive speed and alcohol consumption, with alcohol involved in the largest percentage of fatalities.
If you or a loved one were severely injured or killed in a boating accident, you may have a valid legal claim and you may want to contact a boating accident lawyer for a free evaluation of your case.
Kline & Specter, P.C., a Philadelphia-based law firm with some 30 attorneys, several of whom are also doctors, is exceptionally qualified to investigate and litigate boating accidents. The firm works on a contingent fee basis, which means we only get paid if and when you are financially compensated.
According to Coast Guard data, the vast majority of the 2009 boating deaths, 86 percent, occurred on boats aboard which the operator had not received formal boating safety instruction.
Most of the accidents, seven out of 10, also occurred on smaller boats, those less than 21 feet long. Among them were motorboats but also canoes and personal motorized watercraft known as jet skis.
While the number of boating accidents has decreased over the years – from more than 8,000 in 1996 to 4,730 in 2009 – the number of fatalities has remained relatively constant,
ranging between 700 and 800 in most years. Alcohol was
listed as the leading contributing factor in 120, or 16 percent,
of all boating deaths in 2009.
Few states are immune from boating mishaps. Only North Dakota had no fatalities due to boating accidents in 2009, while Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland accounted for 35 deaths and 264 injuries.
Property damage from boating accidents in 2009 totaled $35.9 million.
Click here to contact a boating accident attorney.
