New York Injury Lawyer Blawg

The one-year anniversary of the tragic July 7, 2010 Duck Boat accident is almost here. On that day, 35 passengers (and 2 crew members) boarded a Duck Boat for a scenic tour of historic Philadelphia. What the passengers didn't bargain for was being hit by a barge, pushed by a tug boat whose operator was distracted by a cell phone.

Our New York injury lawyers and duck boat accident attorneys are representing the families of Hungarian students Dora Schwendtner, 16, and Szabolcs Prem, 20, who were killed in this horrific accident. They have sued the City of Philadelphia, the duck boat company and the tug boat operator.

"They're in shock, as to how so many colossal mistakes were made by two very large corporations and their employees," said Peter Ronai, a lawyer for the families.

According to The Boston Globe, the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) met in Washington to discuss making distracted driving as forbidden as drunk driving.

"Many people continue to think it's just going to take a moment (to call or text)," NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said. "How do we change that mindset? Not just the NTSB, but all of us?"

On that fateful July day, an engine problem on the duck boat left the boat stranded in the Delaware River. The helpless boat was hit by a 250-foot barge being pushed by a tugboat whose pilot was distracted.

Investigators said the K-Sea Transportation Partners tug pilot had made and received 21 cell phone calls in the 2 ½ hours prior to the crash. He had also been on a laptop surfing the internet. The pilot had also moved from the upper to the lower wheelhouse on the vessel to do his calling and internet activities.

Though the lower wheelhouse gave the pilot a quieter atmosphere, it made his ability to see the disabled 33-foot duck boat extremely difficult. It was learned the pilot had been on his cell phone for 10 of the 12 minutes prior to the crash. The stalled duck boat was in the tug boat's blind spot for the final nine minutes leading up to the crash.

"Distraction is becoming the new DUI," NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said. "This is going to reach epidemic proportions."

Society is going to have to view distracted driving similar to how they view not wearing seat belts and drinking and driving.

"It takes a generation or two to change it, but change is needed," Sumwalt said.

A federal criminal investigation into the crash is currently under way. Crews from both vessels tested negative for drugs or alcohol. Though both companies, K-Sea of East Brunswick, N.J., and Ride the Ducks of Norcross, Ga., had strong safety cultures, their training standards were not always followed.

The NTSB felt that creating safety policies aren't worth anything if they are not followed. Recently, the NTSB has investigated an accident where a tug pilot, while texting, ran his vessel in ground in the Baltic Sea, and in another case Northwest Airline pilots were using laptops in the cockpit and flew 150 miles past their destination.

"At what point do we say it's too much ... it has to stop, we can't do this anymore as a society?" Hersman asked.