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Do you see anything wrong
with the design of the boat pictured below? In reality, it is a
personal injury lawyer's dream. Can you see why? If not, don't feel
bad because the design faults of this boat are the sort of thing
that only experienced boaters are usually able to discern. Unfortunately,
boating novices usually aren't aware of the dangers that a boat
designed like an automobile or a space ship can present to themselves
and their passengers. This is a perfect example of what I
call an entry level boat because the designers prey on the potential
buyer's ignorance, whereas more experienced owners begin to understand
why boats should have flat, not round decks.
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Are you ready for 1959 Cacillac fins? Count the
number of places you are likely to slip and fall while attempting
to get around on this boat. |
It is what I call a bubble boat, the name borrowed
from the reference of today's automobile styling frequently referred
to as bubble cars. It is indeed unfortunate that some in the marine
industry saw fit to borrow this styling from the automotive industry
for one very important reason. We don't try to stand up on the outside
of bubble cars, but on boats you do have to stand up on the decks.
And if those decks are round and slippery . . . well, the potential
end result should be pretty obvious, should it not?
Are you beginning to see what's wrong with this
design? Can you imagine what would happen, say, if you're trying
to dock in a tight slip and suddenly the boat is not going where
you want it to and you tell your wife or daughter to run up on the
bow deck and try to fend off? To try to negotiate the 4" wide,
curved side decks is next to impossible. True, the builder did give
you a nice hand rail . . . . located down around your knees (the
one below the windshield wings). But even if one did manage to get
so far as the bow railing, you are then faced with the prospect
of negotiating the rounded foredeck. One wrong step and its . .
. . oops . . . possibly one very nasty fall. Hopefully, the
victim won't get tangled up with the propeller as the boat runs
over him.
Of course a safer way would be to go through the
cabin and up through the bow hatch. But given that it's an emergency
where time is of the essence, by the time someone got up there,
your bow pulpit is probably stuck through the side of another boat.
And even when they do get up there, the poor soul is still faced
with the prospect of having no place to stand except on the rounded
deck. What is your crew going to have to stand on while having to
fend off coming in contact with another vessel? Well, there's nothing
there but an 18" triangle of horizontal space. Try standing
on a 18" triangle anywhere, yet alone on a moving boat.
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Here's a good perspective of the
deck that nearly ended my career. When your foot slips,
your leg is going to go under the railing while your upper
body may catapult it self over the railing. The railing
is only 20" high and is utterly useless. Notice that
with a catwalk only 6" wide, you have no choice but to
step up onto the heavily rounded surface. |
True, maybe emergencies won't happen very often,
but what about normal docking requirements? Obviously, it is completely
unsafe to send someone up to the bow to handle the docklines, as
boaters are wont to do. Apparently the crew is just supposed to
stand in the cockpit and hope for the best. But what about anchoring?
How would you like to go up there when the water is not exactly
calm?
This is just one of the important considerations
first-time boat buyers need to be aware of. Its the question of
racy styling versus safety and practicality. The principle of law
is that a boat is not seaworthy if the vessel is not safe, and whether
the design of this one is safe is surely open to debate. As one
who is frequently involved with litigation, I have no trouble coming
to my own conclusions about that: Its just plain dangerous.
Why would a marine surveyor care if you or one
of your family members fall and break your leg or neck? For one
thing, when the lawsuits start flying, if the surveyor has had any
involvement with the vessel (like doing a survey on it), he is very
likely to be named in the suit. The lawyer is likely to say, "Mr.
Surveyor had an obligation to warn his client of the inherent danger
of these curved, slippery decks." I do not like to see this
sort of thing for the completely selfish reason that it puts me
at risk as well as the passengers.
But that is not the ONLY reason. Another reason
is depicted in the other two photos. One is a 30' Chris Craft with
a similar bubble deck which caused me to fall in such a way that
it could have cost me my life. Trying to get to the bow, I slipped
on the curved deck, but what happened next still gives me goose
bumps. As I slipped, one of my legs went under the railing while
I fell over backwards, off the boat. My leg was levered between
the railing and the rub rail and why this didn't break my leg, I'll
never know, because it should have. To make matters worse, the boat
was on land with a nice twelve foot drop to the ground. But my leg
being wedged between rail and gunwale prevented me from falling
to the ground. Miraculously not seriously injured, I was able to
pull myself back up.
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Here's yet another view of a bubble
deck. Photographing a white deck in bright sun doesn't work
out too well, so I have drawn in the contour lines to show
the curvature of the deck of this this boat. With catwalks
only 3-4" wide, it forces you step up on the steeply
sloping deck with nothing to hold on to. |
While I'm not the sort of person who looks to the
courts to right any wrongs against me, had I been seriously injured
I wouldn't have hesitated to seek out the most viscous bulldog personal
injury lawyer I could find, and several of the all-time greats live
right here in my home town.
While I have always been a critic of poor design,
mainly because bad design is dangerous, this incident really brought
the issue crashing home to me. Remember that I spend my life on
boats, was nearly born on one, and am extremely safety conscious;
I have to be to avoid being frequently injured. Well aware of the
danger of the deck of this boat at the time, and doing my best to
NOT slip and fall (realizing that this was possible) it happened
anyway because there was no place to stand except on the curved
deck.
So whether you're and old salt or a novice, look
a little closer before you become smitten with that rocketship styling.
A boat is not a spacecraft or an automobile, but a platform that
should carry you safely on the water, water that more often than
not is rough rather than calm. The designers are selling you gorgeous
interior space, but a boat is not a floating cocktail lounge. Think
through the functions that not only yourself, but your family members
or friends will have to perform like fending off, docking and anchoring.
Or what if your child just wanted to go up there for the ride, sat
down on the bubble and slipped quietly overboard, unnoticed?
The bulldog lawyers can't restore a loss of life
or crippled limbs. And unless we want the government designing our
boats for us - like they do with our cars and homes - it is we,
the public that needs to force the industry into sensible choices.
The best way to prevent this kind of foolishness is to be aware
of the danger and simply not buy these dangerous products. Designers
design them that way because they know that's what you want. They
know its not good for you, but they do it because that's what sells.
And if you don't buy into it, believe me, those folks will change
their ways faster than they'd change their shoes after stepping
in . . . .
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