Orange County Boat Accident Attorneys

Boating is one of America’s favorite pastimes, especially in beautiful California. Millions of Americans take their boats out every year to cruise through the harbor or go out to sea. Unfortunately, accidents often happen. In 2022, the Coast Guard reported 4,040 boat accidents resulting in 636 fatalities and 2,222 injuries.

It definitely takes experience to win boat accident injury cases. Whether it happened in the Pacific Ocean, the harbor, on the docks, on a lake, or the river, we can help you recover the maximum compensation possible under the law. Our goal is to take over your case so that your top concerns can be recovering and taking care of your family. Contact our Orange County boat accident lawyers today for a free case evaluation.

What Are Common Boat Accident Causes?

Boat accidents range in severity from mild property damage to serious injury or multiple fatalities. We have seen the entire range of causes for boating, water skiing and rafting accidents and will investigate fully to determine every potential scenario of liability. In some cases, boating accidents are caused by another person’s negligence, and that might mean you have the right to a personal injury claim.

The first thing to consider after a boat accident is whether or not someone else caused it. There are a number of situations where negligence might cause a boating accident, including:

• Another boater hit you because he or she was intoxicated, inexperienced, speeding, or not operating the boat correctly.
• You rented a boat that wasn’t outfitted with the proper safety equipment.
• You hit a submerged object which should’ve been removed by appropriate authorities.
• A passenger on your boat was acting in a way that directly contributed to the accident.
• Another boater creates a strong wake, which hits your boat and damages it.

These are just a few examples of how negligence can come into play in a boating accident, but there are hundreds of possible scenarios where someone else is at least partially responsible. An attorney will help you decide if you have a strong case for a personal injury lawsuit by looking at the events leading to the accident.

What A Boating Attorney Can Do for You

An Orange County personal injury attorney can help you in a number of ways. To strengthen your case and help you to receive the most compensation, he or she may:

• Help collect evidence to substantiate your claims, like medical records and police reports.
• Investigate other factors you might not think of on your own, such as finding additional witnesses or other reports.
• Instruct you on how to conduct yourself after the accident, like avoiding social media posts about the event.
• Provide mental support and guidance. Personal injury cases can be stressful but your attorney wants to make the process as easy as possible for you.
• Above all, your attorney’s job is to minimize your fault and maximize compensation.

If you’ve been in a boating accident, chances are you’ve suffered physical injuries, property damage, and potentially time off work. These and other damages are all taken into consideration during a personal injury suit. The goal of a personal injury suit is to make you financially whole again and recover the cost of medical bills, property damages, pain and suffering, and other expenses.

Maritime Law

Since seamen and those who work on ships are not covered by workers’ compensation, Congress has developed a system to protect people working out at sea. The first part of that coverage is the Jones Act or Merchant Marine Act of 1920. The main part of this law allows a crew member of a ship to receive pain and suffering damages, past, current and future lost wages, and other damages if they are injured at sea. Usually, there needs to be negligence on behalf of an employer or coworker for this coverage to take effect.

Another aspect of maritime law is Maintenance and Cure remedies. This is where an employer needs to pay for the cure (medical treatment) of a sea vessel injury and then pay lost wages and room and board until the worker can be employed again. The last common piece of maritime law is that crew members can receive damages when a ship is not worthy of being on the sea, otherwise known as unseaworthiness.

Contact Our Boat Accident Lawyers Today

DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo works with boat injury victims in Orange County and has more than 30 years of experience fighting for those injured while out on the water. Our track record of winning boating accident cases in Southern California speaks for itself, and we can provide effective representation for claims of all sizes. Contact us today to discuss your case.