Garden Grove Boat Accident Lawyer

While recreational water activities such as boating can be enjoyable, they also can be dangerous. Many boating accidents result not from weather or water conditions, but from the negligence of boat operators, crew members, passengers, or owners. Collisions with other boats or objects, capsizing, and sinking due to someoneā€™s negligent actions are all situations that can lead to severe boating accident injuries.

If you were injured in an accident because of someoneā€™s reckless actions, you could hold those who acted negligently legally responsible for the costs of your injuries. With the help of a Garden Grove boat accident lawyer, you could bring a personal injury claim to pursue compensation. Contact an experienced personal injury attorney who could help you through the process of filing and negotiating your claim.

Causes of Boat Accident Injuries

Boating injuries arise from a variety of situations, many of which involve individuals who are operating boats in a reckless manner. These include:

  • Operating a boat under the influence of drugs or alcohol
  • Becoming distracted by music, conversation, food, or the like
  • Not watching out for other boats or swimmers

These situations can result in collisions with other boats, piers, buoys, docks, rocky shorelines, and other underwater hazards, which then often lead to injuries. A passenger may fall into the water, fall while on deck, or sustain injuries when the boat capsizes.

Accident Liability in Garden Grove

All operators of motor vehicles, including watercraft, have a duty to operate in a safe manner. When boat operators fail to meet this standard and cause injuries by acting negligently, the operator will be legally responsible for the costs of those injuries.

Furthermore, if a boat operator is employed by a commercial tour company, the company also can be held liable for the boat operatorā€™s negligence. This is because according to California laws, employers are responsible for the negligent acts of their employees who were acting within the scope of their employment at the time of their actions.

Similarly, a federal law called the Jones Act protects individuals who are hired to work on watercraft, such as fishermen and crewmembers. If they sustain injuries as a result of employer negligence, they may be able to seek compensation for their injuries as well. Speak with a Garden Grove boat accident attorney about accident liability.

Damages in Boating Crash Claims

Injured parties can seek certain types of damages in a Garden Grove boating accident, including:

  • Expenses for past, current, and future accident-related medical treatment
  • Loss of wages and earning capacity
  • Loss of consortium for married couples
  • Expenses related to caregiving and the modification of homes to accommodate disabilities or impairments
  • Therapy and rehabilitation costs

Since all of these expenses stem from injuries that resulted from someoneā€™s reckless actions, a Garden Grove boat accident lawyer could assist in holding a negligent party responsible for paying these expenses.

Sharing Fault for the Accident

California law permits injury victims to seek compensation for their losses stemming from an accident even if they bear some or even most of the responsibility themselves for the accident. When injury victims are partially at fault, the compensation they can seek is reduced by the amount of fault attributable to them.

For instance, if an injury victim is found to be 60 percent responsible for the accident that caused their injuries, they are limited to recovering 40 percent of their total damage award. For more information about assigning fault following a boat accident, reach out to an accomplished lawyer.

Let a Garden Grove Boat Accident Attorney Assist

When a boating accident occurs in Garden Grove, the results can be disastrous. You may have suffered severe and permanent injuries that changed your life forever. If another personā€™s negligence caused your injuries, you have legal rights to compensation for your losses.

Contact a Garden Grove boat accident lawyer today who could work toward an effective legal resolution of your boating accident case.