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#1
posted to rec.boats
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Rules of the Road Fuzzy - ON TOPIC!
I'm a boater and a lawyer. So what could be better than an admiralty law
case. For years I've read discussions here about the COLREGS, better known as the Rules of the Road for boating. Inevitably, someone will declare that the overtaking vessel must give way and that any resulting collision is the fault of that vessel's captain, that's it, no question, case closed. Well guess again. According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the recently decided case of Crowley Marine v. Maritrans, you must look at all of the factors and assign blame on a comparative fault basis. In this case, the captain of the overtaking vessel was judged to be 30% and fault when it struck another vessel and the captain of the struck vessel was 70% at fault, not withstanding that the overtaking vessel had violated Rule 13(a) by failing to give way. It didn't help that the captain of the vessel that was struck had "serious medical and alcohol problems" according to the court. There were also some other unusal facts pecuilar to the case, but the precedent established is that every case will be judged on it's own facts with no hard and fast rules for assigning fault. Here's a link if you'd like to read a case that discusses maritime law going all the way back to the 12th century. http://tiny.cc/NfV1I Interesting for those who like this sort of thing. |
#2
posted to rec.boats
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Rules of the Road Fuzzy - ON TOPIC!
On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:40:43 GMT, akheel
wrote: I'm a boater and a lawyer. So what could be better than an admiralty law case. For years I've read discussions here about the COLREGS, better known as the Rules of the Road for boating. Inevitably, someone will declare that the overtaking vessel must give way and that any resulting collision is the fault of that vessel's captain, that's it, no question, case closed. Well guess again. According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the recently decided case of Crowley Marine v. Maritrans, you must look at all of the factors and assign blame on a comparative fault basis. In this case, the captain of the overtaking vessel was judged to be 30% and fault when it struck another vessel and the captain of the struck vessel was 70% at fault, not withstanding that the overtaking vessel had violated Rule 13(a) by failing to give way. It didn't help that the captain of the vessel that was struck had "serious medical and alcohol problems" according to the court. There were also some other unusal facts pecuilar to the case, but the precedent established is that every case will be judged on it's own facts with no hard and fast rules for assigning fault. Here's a link if you'd like to read a case that discusses maritime law going all the way back to the 12th century. http://tiny.cc/NfV1I Interesting for those who like this sort of thing. The link appears to be a fake. Here's one that works. http://tinyurl.com/5gjs6g |
#3
posted to rec.boats
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Rules of the Road Fuzzy - ON TOPIC!
On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:40:43 GMT, akheel
wrote: There were also some other unusal facts pecuilar to the case, but the precedent established is that every case will be judged on it's own facts with no hard and fast rules for assigning fault. I don't know if anybody has told you this, but most accident cases are decided by the CG in this exact manner. The reason? All mariners have the responsibility to avoid collision at all times - right of way or no right of way. |
#5
posted to rec.boats
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Rules of the Road Fuzzy - ON TOPIC!
"John H." wrote in message ... On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:40:43 GMT, akheel wrote: I'm a boater and a lawyer. So what could be better than an admiralty law case. For years I've read discussions here about the COLREGS, better known as the Rules of the Road for boating. Inevitably, someone will declare that the overtaking vessel must give way and that any resulting collision is the fault of that vessel's captain, that's it, no question, case closed. Well guess again. According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the recently decided case of Crowley Marine v. Maritrans, you must look at all of the factors and assign blame on a comparative fault basis. In this case, the captain of the overtaking vessel was judged to be 30% and fault when it struck another vessel and the captain of the struck vessel was 70% at fault, not withstanding that the overtaking vessel had violated Rule 13(a) by failing to give way. It didn't help that the captain of the vessel that was struck had "serious medical and alcohol problems" according to the court. There were also some other unusal facts pecuilar to the case, but the precedent established is that every case will be judged on it's own facts with no hard and fast rules for assigning fault. Here's a link if you'd like to read a case that discusses maritime law going all the way back to the 12th century. http://tiny.cc/NfV1I Interesting for those who like this sort of thing. The link appears to be a fake. Here's one that works. http://tinyurl.com/5gjs6g tiny.cc is a rip off of tinyurl.com that forces you to see a commercial before arriving at the ultimate URL. |
#6
posted to rec.boats
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Rules of the Road Fuzzy - ON TOPIC!
On Jul 31, 9:24*am, "D.Duck" wrote:
"John H." wrote in message ... On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:40:43 GMT, akheel wrote: I'm a boater and a lawyer. So what could be better than an admiralty law case. For years I've read discussions here about the COLREGS, better known as the Rules of the Road for boating. Inevitably, someone will declare that the overtaking vessel must give way and that any resulting collision is the fault of that vessel's captain, that's it, no question, case closed. Well guess again. According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the recently decided case of Crowley Marine v. Maritrans, you must look at all of the factors and assign blame on a comparative fault basis. In this case, the captain of the overtaking vessel was judged to be 30% and fault when it struck another vessel and the captain of the struck vessel was 70% at fault, not withstanding that the overtaking vessel had violated Rule 13(a) by failing to give way. It didn't help that the captain of the vessel that was struck had "serious medical and alcohol problems" according to the court. There were also some other unusal facts pecuilar to the case, but the precedent established is that every case will be judged on it's own facts with no hard and fast rules for assigning fault. Here's a link if you'd like to read a case that discusses maritime law going all the way back to the 12th century. http://tiny.cc/NfV1I Interesting for those who like this sort of thing. The link appears to be a fake. Here's one that works.http://tinyurl.com/5gjs6g tiny.cc is a rip off of tinyurl.com that forces you to see a commercial before arriving at the ultimate URL.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Harry doesn't understand that....... |
#7
posted to rec.boats
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Rules of the Road Fuzzy - ON TOPIC!
"D.Duck" wrote in
: snip tiny.cc is a rip off of tinyurl.com that forces you to see a commercial before arriving at the ultimate URL. Hey, thanks for pointing that out. I (the OP) was indeed duped by the similar names. Next time the real tinyurl.com. |
#8
posted to rec.boats
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Rules of the Road Fuzzy - ON TOPIC!
Short Wave Sportfishing wrote in
: On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:40:43 GMT, akheel wrote: There were also some other unusal facts pecuilar to the case, but the precedent established is that every case will be judged on it's own facts with no hard and fast rules for assigning fault. I don't know if anybody has told you this, but most accident cases are decided by the CG in this exact manner. Being an inland boater, I'm not too familar with CG matters. I assume the CG decisions you refer to relate to licensing cases? The reason? All mariners have the responsibility to avoid collision at all times - right of way or no right of way. Makes perfect sense to me, but I guess before this, the approach wasn't so well established in a civil lawsuit context, since the Crowley court took 14 pages to explain themselves. Obviously, in the real world, only an idiot would collide rather than give up the right of way, but to paraphrase P.T. Barnum, it seems there's one born every minute. |
#9
posted to rec.boats
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Rules of the Road Fuzzy - ON TOPIC!
On Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:17:54 GMT, akheel
wrote: Short Wave Sportfishing wrote in : On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:40:43 GMT, akheel wrote: There were also some other unusal facts pecuilar to the case, but the precedent established is that every case will be judged on it's own facts with no hard and fast rules for assigning fault. I don't know if anybody has told you this, but most accident cases are decided by the CG in this exact manner. Being an inland boater, I'm not too familar with CG matters. I assume the CG decisions you refer to relate to licensing cases? The reason? All mariners have the responsibility to avoid collision at all times - right of way or no right of way. Makes perfect sense to me, but I guess before this, the approach wasn't so well established in a civil lawsuit context, since the Crowley court took 14 pages to explain themselves. Obviously, in the real world, only an idiot would collide rather than give up the right of way, but to paraphrase P.T. Barnum, it seems there's one born every minute. I think they reproduce faster than that on the Chesapeake Bay. |
#10
posted to rec.boats
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Rules of the Road Fuzzy - ON TOPIC!
On Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:17:54 GMT, akheel
wrote: Short Wave Sportfishing wrote in : On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:40:43 GMT, akheel wrote: There were also some other unusal facts pecuilar to the case, but the precedent established is that every case will be judged on it's own facts with no hard and fast rules for assigning fault. I don't know if anybody has told you this, but most accident cases are decided by the CG in this exact manner. Being an inland boater, I'm not too familar with CG matters. I assume the CG decisions you refer to relate to licensing cases? Collision investigations. The reason? All mariners have the responsibility to avoid collision at all times - right of way or no right of way. Makes perfect sense to me, but I guess before this, the approach wasn't so well established in a civil lawsuit context, since the Crowley court took 14 pages to explain themselves. Obviously, in the real world, only an idiot would collide rather than give up the right of way, but to paraphrase P.T. Barnum, it seems there's one born every minute. True enough. |
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