Seattle Water Taxi Accident sends 7 Passengers to the Hospital

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Public transportation is a relatively safe mode of travel, but accidents certainly do occur. As a Bellevue injury lawyer and Seattle car accident attorney, I have seen just how vulnerable passengers can be and the injuries that can result from mass transit crashes. Buses and ferries don’t have seatbelts, so when an accident does occur, there is not much holding someone back from forward momentum. Public transportation accidents can happen due to a number of reasons. The drivers are just as prone to mistake or negligence as anyone else, and can get into an accident with one split-second bad decision. Due to the wear and tear of the vehicles themselves, they are in constant need of maintenance. This is incredibly important, as we saw last Sunday as it is believed that a mechanical flaw caused a Seattle water taxi to crash into a pier.

Travelling from West Seattle to Downtown, a Seattle water taxi was unable to brake before hitting pier 50 – shooting many passengers into the walls and windows of the ferry. Hitting the pier at 7 mph, 7 of the 73 passengers on board were sent to the hospital to treat their injuries. Fortunately, none of the injuries are considered life-threatening, and other passengers on the boat only sustained minor injuries. It appears as though the accident was caused by a failure in the ferry’s engine. This same water taxi had a minor docking incident in June, but King County authorities say that it has been inspected a few times, including just days before the accident. A coast guard immediately came to the rescue of passengers on the boat after seeing the accident on the way to the Seahawks game. When he got on board, he said that people were frantic and “there were some contusions and bleeding.”

People injured while riding public transportation have every right to seek money for the damages that resulted. If you are ever in such an accident and would like to speak to an experienced Seattle personal injury lawyer, give Premier Law Group a call at (206) 285-1743. We offer initial consultations for free to anybody looking for advice on their potential case.

This information is provided by Straight Talk Law, where you can order free information on Bellevue auto accidents, purchasing car insurance in Washington, and other valuable legal information, offered as a public service by Seattle personal injury lawyer and author Jason Epstein and his Washington auto accident, Tacoma motorcycle accident, and King County wrongful death law firm in Seattle, Washington.