Boating is a lovely pastime, and it’s often hard to imagine anything going wrong, but accidents do happen. Whether you’re about to head onto your first boating trip or you’re an experienced boater, you may want to learn a few extra safety tips to keep yourself and the other passengers safe.
We at Feller & Wendt are highly experienced in personal injury law, which means we’ve helped our fair share of clients with the aftermath of accidents. We want to share our knowledge with you by offering a few helpful tips. Allow us to break down everything you might need to know.
Avoiding Boating Accidents in Arizona
While some accidents are truly unavoidable due to nature or other boaters’ negligence, there’s a lot you can do to keep your passengers, your vessel, and yourself safe out on the water.
Avoid Boating Under the Influence
If you’re driving a boat, it’s necessary to treat your water vehicle like a car you might drive on the road. You’re driving a large piece of equipment, and prioritizing safety and mental clarity is essential during navigation.
While being tipsy on a boat might sound fun at first, heat and sunlight may actually intensify the effects of the alcohol. This means it might be more difficult than usual to determine how much you might be able to handle.
Maintain Your Boat and Safety Equipment
If you own the boat you plan on driving, it’s necessary to keep your boat in working order and up to safety protocol standards. It’s also important to make sure any safety equipment, including fire extinguishers and first aid kits, are well stocked and unexpired. By doing a little bit of periodic maintenance on your boat and its supplies, you’re taking many necessary precautions to prevent serious accidents or injuries.
Watch Weather and Water Conditions
Water and weather conditions may be quite turbulent, and it’s vital to pay attention to forecasts in order to ensure a safe journey for you and your boating passengers. If conditions for a particular day turn out to be less than ideal, it may be necessary to cancel your boating plans. Additionally, if you begin to notice unfavorable weather or water conditions while you’re out journeying, do your best to return to shore as quickly and safely as possible.
Take a Boating Safety Course
If you want to take boating seriously, you may want to strongly consider taking a boating safety course and learning about safety in more detail. In boating safety courses, you might learn several important pieces of information. You may learn more information regarding the following:
- Remain watchful of the water, in the same way you’d be watchful of the road
- Maintain safe speeds
- Be aware of weight distribution on the boat, for both supplies and passengers
You may also learn about the necessary safety equipment that needs to be stocked on your ship. This might include some of the following items:
- First aid kit
- Emergency supplies
- Boat lights
- Fire extinguishers
- Anchor
Ensuring you’re following safety protocol is necessary if you’d like to prevent risks of accident or injury.
What to Do After a Boating Accident
In the case you do get into a boating accident, there may be a few steps you need to follow.
Seek Medical Attention
If there’s any possibility you, one of your passengers, or any other involved parties might have gotten hurt in the boating accident, you should strongly consider seeking medical attention. This is necessary to treat any injuries as well as prevent any conditions from worsening. Many injuries may not be immediately apparent.
Contact a Boating Accident Lawyer
Damages after a boating accident are relatively common, and you may want to make sure all of your responsibilities are in order. Especially if the boating accident was not your fault, a qualified personal injury lawyer might be able to help you maximize your potential compensation. Your lawyer may also be able to assist you in the following ways:
- Collecting and analyzing evidence
- Providing relevant legal knowledge
- Adeptly negotiating your case
- Suggesting tailored next steps
- Handle insurance companies
Representing yourself in a legal case is not suggested, as you may not be in the best position to represent yourself effectively. Because of this, it’s strongly recommended you hire a lawyer to represent you instead.
Get the Help You Need From a Feller & Wendt Arizona Boating Accident Lawyer
At Feller & Wendt, we are knowledgeable in personal injury law, and we may be able to use our skills to help you in your boating accident case. With over 30 years of combined experience and a 95% case success rate, we have a confident and compassionate legal team who is experienced in aggressively and assertively protecting our clients.
If you think our skills may be useful in your case, we may be able to help. For more information or to schedule a free consultation, feel free to contact us at (480) 702-2277 or fill out our contact form.
