Four Iowans sustained injuries after the boat in which they were riding struck the shore at Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that the incident, referred to as a “grounding”, happened on the Big Niangua area of the lake.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, none of the four were wearing life jackets and the driver of the boat was arrested for intoxicated boating.
All four victims were taken to Missouri area hospitals for treatment but their current conditions and specific injuries have not been released.
Legal Issues Involved With Boat Accident Injuries
Resolving liability issues involved with a boating accident is not terribly different than resolving those following a car accident. However, while the issues are similar, determining liability can be more challenging because, obviously, there are no lanes or signs or light violations to look to in boat accidents.
However, just as in a car accident, passengers typically have no liability (fault) assigned to them as they are, more often than not, simply innocent parties who end up injured due to the negligence of the driver of their boat or the driver of another boat.
There are situations in which even the boat operator might not be entirely at-fault for an accident. Those situations typically arise when a land owner around the body of water makes changes to their land or dock that aren’t properly marked or a proper warning is not given.
Insurance Issues Following a Boat Accident
If you or a loved one has been injured in a boat accident, it is important to know how your bills, both past and future, will be paid. In order to determine this, you need to know if the boat in which you were riding maintained any type of insurance. Sometimes a boat owner maintains a separate boat policy while other times the coverage can be found as a rider on homeowner’s insurance policy. Be cautioned, there are boats on our waterways that carry no type of insurance whatsoever.
It is important to have an experienced boat accident injury lawyer on your side to help you wade through the legal issues following a boat accident.
Contact us
If you find yourself in need of a boat injury lawyer in Iowa or anywhere else in the United States, contact the lawyers at Des Moines Injury Law at Des Moines Injury Law.com via EMAIL or call at 515-493-4878 for a free consultation.
To learn more about recreational type accidents, please visit our recreational injury page.
