Did you know that Kentucky has more miles of navigable waterways than any other state in the lower 48? Kentucky is bordered by the Ohio River to the north, the Mississippi River to the west, and the Big Sandy River and Tug Fork rivers to the east. Many of these flow into the Ohio River including Big Sandy, Cumberland, Green, Kentucky and Tennessee rivers. The National Safe Boating Council show that there are more than 750 maritime deaths each year, and ninety percent of those who died in maritime accidents died as a result of drowning.
Although we handle a lot of boating cases at Daryl T. Dixon Law, the main cases we handle involve the Jones Act. It is a federal law that gives seamen who are injured in the course of their employment the right to recover from their employer. They must be a seaman on a vessel in navigable waters. The Jones Act requires a seaman’s employer to provide the seaman with a reasonably safe place to work and must use ordinary care to maintain and keep the vessel in which they work in a reasonably safe condition. If not, the employer can be held liable under the Jones Act for all types of unsafe conditions on a vessel.
Common Jones Act injuries involve grease or oil on the deck, breakage of equipment, improperly maintained equipment, and failure to provide proper safety equipment for the workers to do their work. Improper training of seaman and crew has caused many Jones Act injuries as well as negligence of a co-worker or assault by a co-worker. If you are someone you know has been injured on the river, we can answer all your questions about how your life is changing. I’ve been answering questions about river injury accidents for the last 15 years. If you were injured due to no fault of your own, you entered a war zone. The boat company and their insurance company began from the moment you were injured an assault on you and a mission to keep you from any type of recovery. Seldom does an injured worker have an attorney the day after an injury, but you can bet the boat company and their insurance company started working against you from the moment you were hurt.
We have handled cases in which a seaman was injured by slipping and falling on the vessel. We have handled cases where a seaman has been killed while performing his duties. If you have a boating accident case or a river injury case, pick up the phone and call me. I’d be happy to discuss your case with you.
