PropellerSafety.com

Legal Shorts – Page 10

Boat Builders Offering Propeller Guards Part 2 (N-Z)

This is a continuation of our list of boat builders that have offered propeller guards as an option or sold propeller guards, or provided their boats for use at a major event at which they knew guards would be required (such as the Olympics). Return to Part 1 (A-M). Narwhal Narwhal builds outboard powered RIBS […]

Mercury Marine / Dick Snyder 1989 Propeller Guard

Dick Snyder, Mercury Marine’s expert witness in propeller guard cases, designed a propeller guard back in 1989. Placing the event in historical perspective, this was a very eventful time. The U.S. Coast Guard NBSAC Propeller Guard Subcommittee was formed on May 11, 1988, met twice more in 1988, met in May of 1989, then delivered […]

Laass vs. Storm Lake, et al. (Mercury Marine and Lund Company) Settled

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa Western Division filed documents yesterday (June 12, 2012) stating the court has been advised the case has been settled and the parties anticipate no further action beyond filing a stipulated dismissal. We covered this case involving the death of a young boy earlier in […]

Propeller Warning Labels Seen at the 2012 Tulsa Boat Show

We attended the 2012 Tulsa Boat Show on Saturday morning February 4, 2012. While still getting used to my new digital camera, Lora and I walked around and shot photos of propeller warning decals. I am well aware there is quite a bit of variety in propeller warning decals, but found an even broader selection […]

Michael Hinton v. Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) propeller accident trial

Michael Hinton was trying to retrieve his son’s hat which had blown into the water on September 10, 2000. He was on the swim deck, crouched, hanging onto the swim ladder and getting ready to reach for the hat. The swim ladder was anchored to the transom by a nylon strap through a grommet. The […]

Deondra Scott v. Allen, Orzolek, and Chaparral Boats

Deondra Scott was swimming behind a rented boat at North Carolina’s annual Lake Norman Lake Bash on June 25, 2011. A novice operator backed over her, then went forward over her striking her twice with the Chaparral boat’s propeller. Scott filed suit against the boat operator (Dennis Allen), the boat rental operation (David Orzolek), and […]

Estate of David Paul McFarlin and Jamie Laass vs. Brunswick Corporation (Mercury Marine and Lund Company) and Others

A young boy, David Paul McFarlin, was killed in a May 31, 2010 Storm Lake Iowa boating accident. A Labor Day boat outing on Storm Lake became a tragedy when their 175 horsepower Mercury Marine outboard motor struck a submerged dredge pipe on Storm Lake, the Mercury outboard flipped backwards into the boat, and David […]

Propeller Accidents Similar to the McGarrigle Accident: Mercury Said There Were None – Our Findings Indicate Otherwise

In McGarrigle v. Mercury Marine Mercury claims McGarrigle’s accident is the first one of its kind involving one of the over 750,000 tiller outboards (portable outboards) they built from 1986 to July 2007. We suspect there were several more. This post documents our quick search for others. Our Mercury Marine Tells Court the McGarrigil Accident […]

Mercury Marine Tells Court the McGarrigil Accident is the First One Involving Mercury Tiller Steered Outboards

In McGarrigle v. Mercury Marine, a propeller / kill switch case, Mercury Marine claims John McGarrigle is the the first person NOT using a kill switch to be injured by a Mercury Marine tiller steered outboard. We find that hard to believe, but before we can prove them wrong, we need to determine exactly what […]

Kenneth W. Fisher Will be Allowed to Testify for Plaintiffs in McGarrigle v. Mercury Marine

For basic information on John McGarrigle and Barbara McGarrigle v. Mercury Marine in U.S. District Court, D. New Jersey, see our McGarrigle v. Mercury Marine case page. Very briefly, John McGarrigle fell from a small boat when it hit a wave, was not wearing a lanyard kill switch, the boat circled repeatedly, he tried to […]