BOAT PROPELLER ACCIDENTSPropeller Accidents Happen Quick, and Can Be Life-Changing

Boat propellers rotate at extremely high speeds. These accidents can occur within seconds and frequently involve swimmers, overboard passengers, paddlecraft users, or water skiers. Contact with an operational boat propeller can cause devastating lacerations, amputations, internal organ damage, traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, and fatal blood loss.

Many propeller injuries occur due to a boat operator’s failure to maintain proper lookout, reckless operation near swimmers or paddlecraft users, or a failure to shut off the engine when passengers enter the water. Victims may be struck after falling from a vessel, attempting to board a vessel from the water, or swimming too close to an operational vessel or personal watercraft.

Determining liability in a propeller injury case often requires extensive investigations into vessel operation, safety equipment, operator conduct, boating safety violations, and compliance with maritime navigation rules. Depending on the circumstances, liability may extend to the boat operator, vessel owner, rental or charter company, or even the manufacturer in the case of defective safety equipment.

Propeller injury cases can be very complex, as they often involve General Maritime Law, admiralty jurisdiction, multiple insurance policies, and complicated liability issues. Victims of propeller strikes often require emergency surgery, extensive rehabilitation, long-term medical treatment, and psychological care following traumatic injuries.  Victims may be entitled to compensation for: medical expenses; lost income and future earnings; pain and suffering; emotional distress; property damage to their vessel; rehabilitation and long-term medical care; wrongful death damages in fatal accidents.

Please call 301-888-HURT for Maryland Personal Injury Attorney George P. Patterson, with 30 years of experience in both state and federal court to schedule a free consultation. He is a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and a Top 5 Maryland Plaintiff Personal Injury lawyer by Super Lawyers.  Patterson Law’s office is located in Annapolis, Maryland by the Anne Arundel Medical Center.