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San Bernardino Boating Accident Attorney

Attorneys at Estey & Bomberger, LLP have more than 70 years of combined experience handling boat accident cases in California. Our San Bernardino boating accident lawyers understand complexities involved with boating accident injuries, boating insurance issues, and local, California and federal boating laws. We handle boat accident cases involving serious personal injury and wrongful death in San Bernardino and throughout the state of California, as well as maritime law cases involving the Jones Act.

If you have been injured in a boating accident caused by another party’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages and your pain and suffering.

Types of Boat Accidents

Not all boat accidents involve a collision with another boat or some type of stationary object.  A boat can capsize or sink, ignite or explode, or lose passengers overboard, resulting in serious injury or even death.  Boating accidents can involve any and all types of vessels, including:

  • Barges
  • Commercial fishing boats
  • Charter boats
  • Cruise ships
  • Dinghies
  • Ferries
  • Houseboats
  • Kayaks
  • Motor yachts
  • Personal watercraft
  • Rafts
  • Rowboats
  • Sailboats
  • Scuba dive boats
  • Ski boats
  • Tugboats

Causes of Boat Accidents

Most boat accidents are caused by an operator’s negligence or inexperience and are preventable. Negligence simply is the failure to act reasonably under the circumstances. There may be one or several factors that contribute to an accident. A San Bernardino boat crash may be the consequence of:

  • Boat mechanical failure
  • Boat weight overload
  • Hazardous water or weather conditions
  • Improper anchoring
  • Operator inattention
  • Operator inexperience
  • Operator speeding
  • Operator use of alcohol or drugs
  • Spilled fuel or vapor ignition

Boat Operating Conditions

Car accidents are commonly affected a driver not operating a vehicle properly in light of weather and visibility conditions. Boat operators also must know how to navigate their vessel in various conditions, which may include choppy or rough water conditions, stormy wind conditions and powerful ocean currents. Especially in ocean waters, conditions may rapidly or unexpectedly change, presenting challenges for even experienced boaters.

Boating Accident Injuries

Boating accidents have the potential to seriously injure or kill a boat operator, passenger or water-skier.  Injuries may include

Reporting a Boating Accident

Under Section 656 of the Harbors and Navigation Code, boat operators must file a written report with the California Department of Boating and Waterways if a boating accident results in:

  • Death
  • Disappearance
  • Injuries requiring medical care beyond first aid
  • Disappearance
  • Property damage exceeding $500
  • Loss of a vessel

Failure to submit an accident report to the California Department of Boating and Waterways is a misdemeanor punishable by fine, imprisonment or both.

Free Boating Accident Consultation

If you have been injured or if a family member has died in a boating accident in San Bernardino waters or the Pacific Ocean, contact the San Bernardino boating accident law firm of Estey & Bomberger, LLP at (909)693-3631 or (800)672-1036.  You may also contact us online for a free case review.

Case Results

$10.7 Million - Richeson v. Tovey/Shultz Construction
VERDICT in construction accident injury case resulting from 20-foot fall through unsecured plywood platform at construction site in Riverside, CA.

$3.2 Million - Zhang Case
SETTLEMENT for fatal 2009 rear-end car accident on State Route 60 in Riverside County, CA.

$3 Million - Seneff Case
SETTLEMENT for wrongful death in fatal 2010 car accident in Menifee, CA.

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