Mastercraft product liability suit

[Timmy!]

Thanks for the extra info ragboy!

[ragboy]

Here is more info from the original reporting paper about the incident.

http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_17937562

Explains the alcohol, and the whole situation. Sounds like he had too much weight to plane, and moved people up front to plane and wakeboard, then when he slowed down, he swamped and hit the gas to try to bring the bow up but instead chewed up people, (yikes).

The thing is, the lake was a MESS in that area that day, it was full blown July fouth weekend, and it was just like this year, and full lake after a few years of drought. 2006 was the last time Lake Oroville was full to the brim. So tons of people out, height of the economy, lake was a mess. It would be dangerous just driving with 19 people in a 24 foot boat, must less trying to wakeboard.

The marina employees, said they saw the boat head out that day and it was loaded with beer. The Ranger had said that the driver turned to sharp, sounded like a power turn, and threw the boaters out, which is different than that article. Which is better for the driver if he didn't power turn, but still, no WAY should anyone have been driving around on that day and trying to wakeboard with that many people.

[ragboy]

Definitely more interesting info here:

http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_17739305?source=pkg

You can see the entire chain of articles. And Mastercraft admitted to not testing, and stated they should have.

[Timmy!]

Oh wow, those articles really give you the info that you need to put the pieces together. Thanks again! Feel bad for the girls for sure!

[auburntigegal]

I was on Lake Guntersville this past weekend - big wakeboard tournament going on. We were tied up with about 50-70 other boats (we were on my cousin's pontoon boat chillin). But it was ROWDY on the sidelines. I got there later than everyone else (they picked me up on the dock around 2 pm). I had a couple beers, then realize that of about 10 folks on my boat everyone was $hitfaced, so I hit the bottled water and took over the wheel!! The driver has to be responsible, even on a pontoon boat!
Drunk folks were floating all around on tubes and tons of boats idling around looking for who and what knows what. Even there someone could have gotten run over!

[wallacmc]

As I said earlier, I don't think MC will just lay down and accept this judgement. If they were willing to take it to trial and not settle it, they will be willing to appeal the judgment on some grounds. The good thing is, a trial court judgment does not create a precedent that other courts have to follow, even in California. However, if they appeal and loose, that could be a different animal altogether. Then, the verdict could be even more significant, because other courts and manufacturers would certainly take notice.

[wallacmc]

Thanks for the perspective Rag.

[Duncan]

As a different take, most of us would admit the max passenger numbers for a boat are absurd. The first article linked by Ragboy could be a plausible occurence even in the absence of alcohol. A boat loaded to capacity (supposedly not even running ballast) takes a roller over the bow and simultaneously, the driver gooses the throttle to get the bow up and riders in the bow freak out because of getting flooded with cold water jump up and get kncoked off balance.

Am I defending that driver -- hell no. As driver, he never should have allowed that many people on board (even if at the recommended limit) or tried to board in those conditions. More so if he was impaired.

I think passenger capacity should be something other than weight capacity divided by average adult weight. Capacity should be a relatively safe number of people under reasonable operating conditions. Yes, I know those numbers ar USCG numbers. But boat manufacturers should not be trumpteting an absurd number of max passengers, especially in a relatively unseaworthy boat such as an open bow low in the water wakeboard boat.

[Timmy!]

I've loaded my RZ2 up with 14 people total before and it's nerve racking! Every throttle and steering adjustment has to be gentle when you have that much weight in the boat because it stops a LOT faster than it does when empty and the bow immediately dives. You definitely can't drive it like you normally would, that's for sure.

[ragboy]

Remember that the article states that they moved 10-12 people ALL TO THE BOW, which is nuts. And at that time on that day, on that part of the lake, it was nuts. Tons of chop.

Agree, that a full boat, you need to be careful anyway, but 12 people in the bow, can't even comprehend that.

[Duncan]

To be clear, I am not defending that driver or excusing the incident. I am just arguing that even with four or five people in the bow (still too many!), bad things could happen when you take a roller, people jump up from cold water, and the driver hits the throttle.

From the first article: "Mercer estimated that two people moved toward the front of the boat where she was sitting to shift the boat's balance to make it more conducive for boarding."

[wallacmc]

If there were 18 people in the boat, I'm thinking there were already 6-8 people in the bow to begin with BEFORE people started moving forward. This is why I'm thinking there had to be people sitting with their butts on the deck and not the seat, with their centers of gravity way to high, on slippery gelcoat, little to hold on to, and way more vunerable to getting directly hit by the chop/wave/wake that washed them out. Also, if they were sitting on the deck like I think, a power turn alone would knock them off balance and could send them overboard either on the high side or low side of the turn. There wouldn't even need to be wash.

[wallacmc]

I have though a ton about this over the last 24 hours, because these are the types of fact patterns we talk about in law school all the time. The failure to warn argument, despite seeming ludicrous, is unfortunately valid. Ever wonder why a lawnmower has a sticker on that says "Dont put your hand down here" or a bottle of bleach that says "Don't drink it"? It's because someone did, and nowadays companies have to try to anticipate any dangerous situation involving their product and are required to warn about those dangerous applications. That is the state of the law. MC will look back in hindsight know it should have tested about the dangers posed by the situation that crew of people put themselves in, I guarantee you. All that being said, the owner/driver is captain of his own ship and responsible for the safety of the crew, and all of us know it. And, you can bet the farm that the plaintiffs did everything they could to make sure there were no other boat captains on that jury.

[ragboy]

You have to remember, this guy went to jail for 180 days and pleaded no contest at the criminal trial. He was culpable. This issue is not over who was responsible for the accident, but who is responsible for the cost associated with the injuries and such.

[wallacmc]

Seems like the jury said MC was culpable as well. Otherwise, they wouldn't be liable for damages. I guess culpability is in the eye of the beholder - it is kind of like a measure of how much of the blood is on your hands. To us, much more is on the driver's hands than in the eyes of the jury (or the jury figured MC was the only way the injured was going to be paid, which is sad, playing God like that).