UTAH BOATING ACCIDENT LAWYER. Call/TXT (801) 373-6345. Jake Gunter
UTAH
Recreational boating, jet ski, watercraft can cause serious injuries when they collide. Most Utah boats and personal watercraft (jet ski, ski doos) are required to have liability insurance under Utah law. Meaning just like when you are hit by a car, boats also have insurance coverage to cover your injuries.
HERE ARE SOME COMMON TYPES OF MARITIME AND UTAH BOATING ACCIDENTS:
Personal watercrafts (Jet Skis, Wave Runners, Ski Doos)
Cabin Cruisers sinking, capsizing.
Powerboats Collision with other Boats or Objects.
Sailboats Collisions.
Yachts collisions.
Go-Fast Boats, Speed Boats.
Airboats, Hunting flat deck boats.
Drowning. Propeller Strike Injuries.
Boating Damages Insurance Disputes.
INSURANCE COVERS UTAH BOATING ACCIDENTS.
Utah law requires most Utah boats to have insurance on them. Just like cars, Utah law requires normal minimum liability insurance coverage for boat accidents. Boat insurance covers boating collisions with other boat, boat v. swimmer, one-boat accidents. Drowning, or boat capsizing.
Calling an experienced Utah boating accident law firm can help you discover and untangle the web of insurance around boating accidents.
The Utah State Minimum Boat Insurance Coverages are:
(1). Each motorboat and personal watercraft (“PWC”) are required to carry the owner’s or operator’s liability insurance when operated on Utah waters. Meaning they must have insurance to cover when they accidentally hurt someone with their boat.
(2). Utah State Boat minimum insurance requirements are: $25,00 / $50,000 bodily injury/death – $15,000 property damage or $65,000 combined minimum for injuries per accident.
This means: $25,000 maximum per person injured in one boat accident. Up to $65,000 per occurrence, maximum, regardless of how many people are hurt in the boating accident. It works the same way for cars.
(3). Motorboats equipped with engines less than 50 horsepower and all airboats are exempt from this requirement.
TYPES OF UTAH BOATING ACCIDENT INJURIES:
Cuts, Concussions, Fractures, Drownings, Death, Heading Injuries. Back, Neck Ligament Tendon or Herniated Discs Injuries. Disfigurement. Permanent Physical Impairment. Impairment Ratings. Paralysis. Lost wages, Lost Earning Capacity.
TYPE OF UTAH BOATING ACCIDENT DAMAGES:
Damages caused by a Utah boating accident are commonly:
Medical Bills. Pain and Suffering. General Damages. Mileage to and from Medical Appointments. Lost wages. Impaired Capacity to Work. Lost Income Stream.
WHO IS LIABLE FOR A BOATING ACCIDENT IN UTAH?
The same general principles that apply to who is at-fault for a Utah car accident applies to determining who is at-fault in a Utah maritime or boating accident.
Here is a more in-depth article on proving fault in your injury case.
The bottom line is that the person who hurt you in the boating collision has to be at least 51 percent at-fault for you to recover compensation for your injuries. You can share some fault, but you can not be more than 49 percent at-fault for the Utah boating accident that caused your boating injuries.
COMMON CAUSES OF UTAH BOATING ACCIDENTS:
(1). Operating inexperience. Parents letting kids drive. New boat owners. Newly purchased boats.
(2). Operating inattention. Radio, too many people in the boat.
(3). Alcohol use. Boat drivers can not drink while driving the boat, regardless of them being intoxicated or not. Boat passengers can drink in the boat with open containers.
(4). Drug use. Driving while under the influence of any substance is illegal.
(5). Failure to obey rules of the waterway. Buoy markers, channel markers, passing rules, lights being operable.
UTAH BOATING STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.
The general statute of limitation for a Utah boating accident is 4 years. But when children are involved, defective products or boating wrongful deaths, the statute of limitation can be much shorter. A statute of limitation is the drop dead date where you must file a boating injury lawsuit or you will forever lose your right to recover a settlement. Always, always call an experienced Utah boating accident lawyer to determine what the statute of limitations are.
BOATING INSURANCE ADJUSTER INTERVIEWS? SHOULD I GIVE ONE? NO.
After a boating collision causing property damage or physical injuries you will start receiving phone calls from boat insurance companies asking for an adjuster interview. You should not give one until you have retained an attorney to help you with the boating accident.
After maritime accidents, insurance adjusters generally wait until you get out of the hospital, but then start calling to conduct an investigation. You have no duty to cooperate with the other person’s insurance company. You do have a duty to cooperate with your own insurance company, but the interview can wait until you talked to a Utah injury attorney and have recovered.
See these in-dept articles about insurance adjuster interviews, what to do and when to do them.
https://gunterinjurylaw.com/car-accident-insurance-adjuster-interviews-do-i-have-to-do-one/
https://gunterinjurylaw.com/types-of-insurance-adjusters/
https://gunterinjurylaw.com/voiding-an-adjuster-interview/
https://gunterinjurylaw.com/utah-personal-injury-attorney-jake-gunter/
Bottom Line. Call a qualified, experienced Utah boating accident lawyer before you give an insurance adjuster interview. They are recorded and it can make the difference in determining who is at-fault.
WHAT SHOULD I DO IMMEDIATELY AFTER A UTAH BOATING/MARITIME ACCIDENT CAUSING INJURIES?
Here are some immediate steps to take right after your Utah boating accident that causes you injuries.
(1). Seek Medical Care. Seek appropriate medical care for your boating accident injuries. Here is an in-depth article on that. https://gunterinjurylaw.com/personal-injury-medical-treatment/
(2). Help Others If Possible. Provide assistance to injured parties is possible. Call the Coast Guard, the police or county sheriff’s office.
(3). Document Accident. Gather documentation when possible. Exchange names, phone numbers and insurance information. Take pictures with your cell phone.
(4). Call an Injury Attorney. Call a Utah boating accident attorney to help you with the insurance process, reporting your claim, the boat insurance adjuster interview and getting your medical treatment paid for. Here is a VIDEO on how to select a real, practicing injury lawyer. https://gunterinjurylaw.com/how-to-select-a-good-utah-personal-injury-attorney-what-to-look-for-what-questions-to-ask/
(5). Get better. After a boating maritime accident you should seek and continue appropriate medical care. After an accident causing injuries is not the time to gamble on your health. Generally the person who hurt you has insurance and that at-fault insurance company will eventually reimburse you for your medical bills and damages.
HOW LONG DO UTAH BOATING ACCIDENT INSURANCE CASES TAKE?
Utah boating insurance injury claim cases are often like car accident cases. They do take time. On the very short end, smaller injury cases take 4-6 months. If a boating injury claim is litigated and tried in front of a jury, then that can be 2 years.
Here is a timeline in a litigated personal injury case. https://gunterinjurylaw.com/timelines-in-a-litigated-personal-injury-case/
Here is a timeline article on how long an insurance claim will take in your boating accident. https://gunterinjurylaw.com/utah-car-accident-insurance-claim-start-finish/
COMMON WAYS TO PROVE FAULT IN A UTAH BOATING ACCIDENT.
(1). Where is the property damage located on the boats? Sometimes property damage can indicate who was at-fault for the collision.
(2). Testimony from witnesses from boat passengers or on land.
(3). Admissions by the at-fault driver to being reckless or drunk.
(4). Boat passengers are generally never at-fault when a collision occurs. When boat passengers are injured, they will have an injury claim.
(5). Type of boating accident? Was it a rear-end boating collision? Was it a t-bone boating collision?
(6). Where proper flags and navigation rules being followed?
(7). Where basic boating regulations being followed? Life jackets? Passing regulations, etc.
(8). Police interviews, body camera footage, police reports, photos.
(9). Insurance adjuster interviews after the collision.
(10). Types of physical injuries.
EXAMPLES OF BOATING ACCIDENTS IN UTAH WHERE OTHER PEOPLE ARE AT-FAULT FOR YOUR INJURIES.
Here ae some common examples where you are entitled to compensation for you injuries caused by a boating accident.
(1). Boat v. Boat Collision Utah Lake. When you are driving your boat, ski doo, or watercraft on Utah Lake and another boat negligently collides with you causing you injuries.
(2). Passenger Boat Claims Great Salt Lake. When you are a boat passenger on the Great Salt Lake and the boat you are in collides with another boat, sinks or the boat operator otherwise negligently mishandles the boat you are a passenger in, causing you injuries.
(3). Strawberry Reservoir Boat v. Boat Passenger Claims. When two boats collide on Strawberry Reservoir and passengers are hurt, the passengers have claims against both boat operators. Regardless of which boat driver was at-fault, as the passenger, you bear no fault for the accident and your injuries.
(4). Deer Creek Reservoir Boat Capsizing. Drowning. Boats are not supposed to capsize. When this occurs it is almost always operation error, a defective product or failure to maintain by the rental boat company.
(5). Bear Lake Boat Rental Company. Sometimes boating accidents are caused by boat rental companies negligently maintaining their rental boat fleet, causing death, injury, drowning or sinking.
(6). Boating Accident on Lake Powell. A drunk boating collides with a swimmer causing serious injuries.
BOATING WHILE DRUNK. BUI AND DRIVING A BOAT UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL CAUSING INJURIES:
Driving a boat while intoxicated is no different in danger from driving a car while drunk. In fact the same Utah drunk driving laws apply to driving a boat under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Utah has a .005 Blood Alcohol Content per se limit on boating DUIs.
DUI boating injuries have unique aspects to them which a qualified Utah boating accident injury lawyer can really help you with.
UTAH BOATING WRONGFUL DEATH.
Wrongful death boating injury cases have special aspects to them. Normally, just like car accident injury cases, the underlying boating insurance is completely inadequate to cover the death and injuries caused by the boating fatality. In these cases of completely inadequate insurance, your injury attorney needs to look above and beyond the insurance policies for compensation for your injuries.
CALL/TXT UTAH BOATING ACCIDENT ATTORNEY JAKE GUNTER FOR A FREE CONSULTATION AT (801) 373-6345.
Utah Boating Injury Attorney Jake Gunter can help you with boating accidents in the following Utah lakes or reservoirs:
Anderson Meadow Reservoir, Bear Lake, Blue Lake, Boulder Mountain Lakes, Causey Reservoir, Cleveland Reservoir, Cottonwood Reservoir, Currant Creek Reservoir, Cutler Reservoir, Deer Creek Reservoir, Duck Fork Reservoir, East Canyon Reservoir, Echo Reservoir, Electric Lake, Ferron Reservoir, , Fish Lake, Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Gooseberry Reservoir, Grantsville Reservoir, Gunlock Reservoir, Gunnison Reservoir, Gunnison Bend Reservoir, High Uinta Lakes, Holmes Creek Reservoir, Huntington Reservoir (State Park), Hyrum Reservoir, Jordanelle Reservoir, Kolob Reservoir, Koosharem Reservoir, Lake Powell, Little Dell Reservoir, Lost Creek Reservoir, Mantua Reservoir, Maple Lake, Mill Hollow Reservoir, Mill Meadow Reservoir, Miller Flat Reservoir, Millsite Reservoir, Minersville Reservoir, Newcastle Reservoir, Navajo Reservoir, Newton Reservoir, Nine Mile Reservoir, Otter Creek Reservoir, Palisade Reservoir, Panguitch Reservoir, Payson Lakes, Pelican Lake, Pineview Reservoir, Piute Reservoir, Quail Creek Reservoir, Red Fleet Reservoir, Red Lake Rockport Reservoir, Sand Hollow Reservoir, Sandwash & Bottle Hollow Reservoirs, Scofield Reservoir, Silver Lake, Smith & Morehouse Reservoir, Starvation Reservoir, Steinaker Reservoir, Strawberry Reservoir, Utah Lake, Valley Reservoir, Vernon Reservoir, Willard Bay Reservoir and Yuba Reservoir.