PropellerSafety.com

Archive for product liability – Page 2

BARD: Boat Manufacturer Post Sale Safety Monitoring chart

The U.S. Coast Guard Boating Accident Report Database (BARD) should be a central component of boat builder / boat manufacturer efforts to monitor the safety of their boats post sale (after sale / in use by customers). Similarly, marine drive manufacturers can monitor BARD for potential safety issues involving marine drives. Post Sale Monitoring is […]

Judge rejects Jones Act defense in Duck Boat Case

For decades the boating industry has been raising what we call the Jones Act Defense against plaintiffs on large lakes and waterways, especially those through which one could theoretically pass to another state. Back in 1851 the U.S. Government adopted the “1851 Shipowners Limitation of Liability Act” to encourage shipping by limiting the potential liability […]

Mercury patents log strike monitoring system

Brunswick / Mercury Marine was issued U.S. Patent 10,214,271 Systems and Methods for Monitoring Underwater Impacts to Marine Propulsion Devices on 26 February 2019. Steven J. Gonring and Mark D. Curtis are listed as the inventors. The patent teaches detecting rate of trim (rate of tilt) to determine an impact occurred. If the drive is […]

Barhanovich case settled

Mark Barhanovich was killed when his Suzuki outboard motor struck a dredge pipe alleged not to be properly marked on Sunday morning September 16, 2012 off Biloxi Mississippi near Deer Island. The Suzuki outboard broke off, flipped into his boat. Later that morning, Mr. Barhanovich, a widely known and respected local figure, died from his […]

Propeller Guards: ABYC Marine Law Symposium

ABYC’s Marine Law Symposium 2018 was originally scheduled to be part of ABYC’s annual Standards Week in Charleston, South Carolina in January 2018. However, a major east coast snowstorm postponed the event until 10 April 2018. The theme of the topics selected was, “The Anatomy of an Accident”. The day long event featured sessions titled: […]

Clippard vs. Yamaha outboard flipped in propeller case settled

In May 2013 Timothy Clippard of Missouri was killed in a boating accident on Kentucky Lake during a bass fishing tournament. His fishing partner piloted the Ranger bass boat as they passed under a large bridge on the way back to weigh in. The 225 horsepower Yamaha outboard motor struck a barely submerged bridge support […]

$23 million Circle of Death propeller accident verdict upheld

Derek Hebert was on a Champion center console boat being operated by Daniel Vamvoras on 7 May 2005. They were between the Calcasieu River and Lake Charles County Club. The steering system failed and the boat began to spin (the Circle of Death). Derek Hebert was ejected, struck 19 times by the propeller, and died […]

Outboard Motor Log Strike Mode by Speed and Resistance to Impact Chart

When outboard motors strike submerged objects they can break off and flip into the boat as seen in our lists of outboard motors breaking off and flipping into boats and large outboard motors breaking off and flipping into bass boats. We previously posted information on several existing and proposed solutions, including The Leash, a vectran […]

Angelopoulos v. Volvo Penta, Grady-White, et al: in Pre Trial Conference

A young girl, by the last name of Angelopoulos, then 12 or 13, was entrapped in Volvo DuoProp stern drive propeller on 30 June 2011 in Chesapeake Bay near Lynnhaven Pier in Virginina Beach. The vessel was a 24 foot 2000 Grady-White Sailfish. The young girl was reboarding the boat after tubing. It took about […]

ABYC Consolidated Boat Warnings: a review

Back in May 2015, American Boat & Yacht Council, ABYC, released their consolidated boat warnings. ABYC grouped several warnings together for helm and transom warnings on specific types of boats. Earlier, we furnished a history of the development of ABYC’s consolidated warnings. The Importance and Timeliness of This Review Due to our specific interest in […]