jeffbare
05-03-2011, 04:59 PM
Lawsuits settle in fatal Palm Valley boat crash
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-05-02/story/lawsuits-settle-fatal-palm-valley-boat-crash-terms-confidential#ixzz1LKE7PkYZ
Lawyers for five victims of a fatal Easter boat crash in Palm Valley two years ago have settled their lawsuit against the boat manufacturer.
Terms of the settlement, reached Thursday in mediation, are confidential, and lawyers for the plaintiffs and Crownline Boats declined comment.
Three injured people and two representatives of deceased victims sued the boatmaker in federal court shortly after the 2009 crash, claiming the design of the Crownline 225BR was inherently unsafe.
The 22-foot pleasure boat struck a tugboat moored in the Intracoastal Waterway just north of the Palm Valley bridge, killing five people and injuring nine.
The lawyers all met with a mediator Thursday, and he notified the court that the case has been settled. The lawyers have 10 days to file a settlement agreement in court.
Maritime attorney Rod Sullivan declined comment Monday but said when he filed one of the lawsuits that Crownline promoted the boat as capable of safely transporting 12 people. That means five have to sit in the bow, forward of the boat's windscreen. State and federal maritime officials view that as unsafe, he said, because it subjects those passengers to ejection and blocks the driver's view.
Several victims were thrown from the boat into the side of the tug.
Though there were 14 people on the boat, Sullivan said that didn't contribute to the accident. He said witnesses told him the boat driver's view was obstructed by passengers on the bow.
The driver was inexperienced but chosen because she was sober, Sullivan said at the time.
Killed were Jacqueline Allen, 44, of Jacksonville; Olivia Carretero, 23, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.; Robert "Trenton" Craig, 23, of Jacksonville Beach; Elisabeth Rosenfeld, 20, of Ponte Vedra Beach; and Inmaculada Pierce, 42, of Orange Park.
paul.pinkham@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4107
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-05-02/story/lawsuits-settle-fatal-palm-valley-boat-crash-terms-confidential#ixzz1LKDWzsme
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-05-02/story/lawsuits-settle-fatal-palm-valley-boat-crash-terms-confidential#ixzz1LKE7PkYZ
Lawyers for five victims of a fatal Easter boat crash in Palm Valley two years ago have settled their lawsuit against the boat manufacturer.
Terms of the settlement, reached Thursday in mediation, are confidential, and lawyers for the plaintiffs and Crownline Boats declined comment.
Three injured people and two representatives of deceased victims sued the boatmaker in federal court shortly after the 2009 crash, claiming the design of the Crownline 225BR was inherently unsafe.
The 22-foot pleasure boat struck a tugboat moored in the Intracoastal Waterway just north of the Palm Valley bridge, killing five people and injuring nine.
The lawyers all met with a mediator Thursday, and he notified the court that the case has been settled. The lawyers have 10 days to file a settlement agreement in court.
Maritime attorney Rod Sullivan declined comment Monday but said when he filed one of the lawsuits that Crownline promoted the boat as capable of safely transporting 12 people. That means five have to sit in the bow, forward of the boat's windscreen. State and federal maritime officials view that as unsafe, he said, because it subjects those passengers to ejection and blocks the driver's view.
Several victims were thrown from the boat into the side of the tug.
Though there were 14 people on the boat, Sullivan said that didn't contribute to the accident. He said witnesses told him the boat driver's view was obstructed by passengers on the bow.
The driver was inexperienced but chosen because she was sober, Sullivan said at the time.
Killed were Jacqueline Allen, 44, of Jacksonville; Olivia Carretero, 23, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.; Robert "Trenton" Craig, 23, of Jacksonville Beach; Elisabeth Rosenfeld, 20, of Ponte Vedra Beach; and Inmaculada Pierce, 42, of Orange Park.
paul.pinkham@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4107
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-05-02/story/lawsuits-settle-fatal-palm-valley-boat-crash-terms-confidential#ixzz1LKDWzsme