Part of the thrill of a vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands is the excitement you feel when out on a boat with your friends and family. However, if you or a loved one are injured on a boat trip, legal proceedings can get complicated. If you believe that such an injury was caused by a defective boat part, you may have to untangle some complicated legal proceedings in order to find fault with the manufacturer or the company you rented the boat from. Do not risk taking your case to court alone. Get the help you need from a trusted personal injury attorney.

Injuries Due to Defective Boat Parts

The types of accidents that can happen due to defective boat parts can vary depending on the situation. Faulty equipment might lead to flooding, capsizing, loss of control, or a crash due to navigation or electrical issues. Assuming that you are renting a boat while on vacation, you and your attorney would have to decide whether to pursue legal action against the boat's owner, the manufacturer, or a combination of both. Lawsuits due to defective parts can get complicated, because it is the owner's responsibility to ensure that the boat is in good working order before letting you take it into the water. If you can prove that the necessary precautions were taken, but there was still a malfunction, the manufacturer may be held liable under U.S. law. 

Legal Action Against the Boat Manufacturer

There are several reasons to file a lawsuit against a boat manufacturer if you suspect that an accident was due to defective design or assembly. Medical expenses you paid because of any resulting injuries take priority, but you can also receive compensation for any wages that you lost because of time away from work during the recovery process. You and your attorney can also push to get the manufacturer to cover less tangible costs, such as emotional trauma or, in a wrongful death case, loss of companionship.

Consumers have a right to expect that the products sold to them by leading manufacturers are safe for use as directed. When a manufacturer fails to live up to that expectation, and a consumer is harmed by a hazardous or defective product, the consumer has the right to file a personal injury lawsuit against the manufacturer seeking compensation for the harm done to them.

Personal Injury Lawsuits Involving Hazardous Products

Obtaining compensation through a personal injury lawsuit can be a lengthy and costly process. In some cases, it is only after years or even decades of use that the danger of a product is realized. First, someone must start to suspect a link between a certain product and a particular illness or injury. After that, it may take years for scientists to identify the specific toxic chemical or design defect in the product and then to prove the causal connection between the product and the illness. At least one costly lawsuit must usually be fought before a hazardous product’s manufacturer can be made to take responsibility and pay compensation to consumers who were injured by the product. After one case is tried and won, it finally becomes easier for others to obtain compensation for similar injuries caused by the same product.

Because these trials can be so costly, people who have been injured by the same product will often join together in a mass tort action to achieve economies of scale. While each person’s case has its own unique circumstances and must be tried separately, some of the evidence and arguments can be shared across the cases.