Many of our readers in Tennessee probably don’t think about boating accidents when it comes to personal injury claims. Car accidents would probably come to mind, as would workplace accidents. However, the fact is that boating accidents are not uncommon in Tennessee.
In fact, a recent report noted that Tennessee is seeing a rise in the number of boating deaths that have occurred in 2018 so far. Since the beginning of the year, there have reportedly been 21 deaths in boating accidents. That is over twice as many as there had been in the state by this time of the year in 2017. One of the most common factors in the deaths in boating accidents is that the victims had not been wearing life jackets at the time of the incident, and that many of the incidents are occurring with smaller boats involved, like kayaks and canoes.
There are a number of ways that a person could suffer an injury, or even death, from a boating accident. Like car accidents, many are caused by intoxicated drivers – the ones operating the boat. Intoxicated boating can lead to collisions with objects in the water or even other boats. Or, there may be a malfunction on the boat that causes passengers to suffer injuries. There can even be incidents in which people are injured because the person operating the boat simply does not have the requisite skills.
Personal injury cases can arise in more situations than most people realize. If there is a situation in which a person has a duty to others, breaches that duty and then damages and injuries result, a personal injury lawsuit to seek financial compensation from the negligent party may be possible.