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In a trial which saw Ride the Ducks Seattle and Ride the Ducks International point the finger of liability and blame at each other, the judgement which was handed down pointed to both entities as being both negligent and liable for the accident which took five lives and injured scores more.
Ride the Ducks International was found to be 70 percent responsible and Ride the Ducks Seattle was found to be 30 percent. For payment of damages, the percentages shifted to 67 percent for the Missouri based Ride the Ducks International and 33 percent for the Seattle franchise. According to Seattle’s KIRO7, Ride the Ducks Seattle and Ride the Ducks International both carry extensive insurance totally more than $171 million dollars.
We continue to recommend you not Ride the Ducks.
Glenn Farley of Seattle’s KING5 produced this segment explaining the nuances of the trial and judgement.
The CEO of Ride the Ducks Seattle issued the following statement:
“Since the tragic accident on September 24, 2015, Ride the Ducks of Seattle owners, management and team members have always wanted to do right by everyone affected by the accident, but have been limited by constraints in the legal process. Today, they jury’s verdict puts us one step closer to that goal. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t think of those lives that were forever changed that day.
Since the accident, we’ve made significant structural changes to the critical parts our vehicles and instituted a program of regular testing, done in addition to inspections conducted by the state and United States Coast Guard. We’ve done a top-to-bottom review of our operations and have unilaterally made a series of changes including removing the Aurora Bridge from our route.
We’ve been working hard to regain the trust of those we serve and will continue to do so in the future.”
Ride the Ducks Seattle produced an information packet a few years ago which highlights the changes they have implemented, training their personnel receive and endorsements from local business, to include famed Seattle chef and restaurateur Tom Douglas.
