NYC Water Taxi Crash Injures 30
Questions still need answers after the July 28 crash of a small ferry into a midtown Manhattan pier. The accident hurt as many as thirty passengers. Some of the injuries were serious, but no life-threatening injuries were reported.
NYC firefighters who responded to the scene were reportedly treating the crash as an accident. The ferry had simply not slowed enough on its approach to the docks, officials said.
Tourists and Sightseers Hurt
The crash happened just after 4 p.m. as the Ed Rogowsky, a small ferry capable of carrying nearly 150 people, returned from a sightseeing trip to the Statue of Liberty. About 125 passengers were said to be aboard when the ferry hit the dock at Pier 79, between 39th and 49th streets along the Hudson.
The crash did not cause major damage to the boat or the pier but temporarily disrupted service for other users of Pier 79, including ferries to New Jersey. The crash will be investigated further by the regulator for commercial shipping in the Port of New York.
Ferry Crashes Not Unheard Of
This crash was not nearly as bad as some others in recent memory. In October of 2003, a Staten Island Ferry crashed into a pier, killing eleven and injuring 165. That was the worst accident in Staten Island Ferry history. The pilot was found to have been impaired by drugs that cause drowsiness, which led him to fall asleep at the wheel. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served eighteen months.
But the pilot wasn’t the only one at fault. Ferry management had not enforced rules requiring them to have two pilots on duty, and several people were charged with lying on reports, lying to investigators, and obstruction of justice.
In the fallout of that accident, the city’s ferry director received a year in jail. That same ferry was involved in a less extreme dock collision in May 2010. That incident injured around forty people—one seriously.
The Staten Island Ferry hasn’t been the only one to experience trouble. In January 2013, a different NY-NJ ferry crashed into a Manhattan pier, injuring eighty-five victims—two critically. And last year, in a bizarre but tragic incident, a ferry steamed into a group of kayakers, seriously injuring several of them.
Victims Win Compensation
When someone is injured in a crash like this, whether the service is run by a private corporation or a public entity, he or she is entitled to compensation for his or her injuries, lost wages, and other expenses associated with the accident.
This is especially true when negligence is involved. New York City eventually paid $87 million in claims over the 2003 crash, while the New Jersey ferry company responsible for the 2013 crash settled multiple claims for $6 million.
New York Boat Accident Lawyer
All personal injury and negligence claims are unique, but some can be quite complex. Suits involving ferries, for instance, can be subject to provisions of maritime law, and when one of the defendants is a public entity (such as a city-run ferry company), other restrictions and requirements come into play.
When you’ve been harmed in this kind of accident, you need an experienced legal team that understands boat accident cases. The attorneys at Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP have helped hundreds of clients with all sorts of personal injury cases. Call us at 1-800-VICTIM2 (842-8462) or fill out the form below to discuss your case with us.
