South Padre Island Charter Boat Injury Claims: Understanding Liability in Texas

Whether you are boarding a charter boat on South Padre Island for a day of deep-sea fishing or a romantic sunset cruise, you trust the company and operator to provide a safe experience. Most of the time, that is exactly what happens. But what about when the trip doesn’t go as planned, and you end up injured in a boat accident?

When your relaxing day on the water turns into a seemingly endless string of doctor’s visits and time off work, you need a seasoned professional to guide you to justice and compensation. The Texas charter boat injury attorneys at Carabin Shaw help victims pursue compensation after a traumatic boating accident. Our team is available 24/7 to provide free case reviews in English or Spanish. Call us toll-free now at 1-800-862-1260 or contact us online.

Charter boats are common around South Padre Island, offering dolphin tours, sightseeing cruises, and special events. Operating these boats requires experience and attention, as operators must use care to avoid collisions and other mishaps. When accidents do occur, they are often caused by:

• Operator inexperience
• Lack of proper safety equipment
• Faulty equipment or unsafe conditions
• Boating under the influence (BUI)
• Excessive speed in crowded waterways

These causes are all preventable if responsible parties exercise their duty of care to keep passengers safe. Unfortunately, breaches can occur, and the consequences can be catastrophic for victims. A boating accident lawyer in Texas can help you identify the cause of your accident and who is liable for your injuries.

Identifying the responsible party can be more challenging for your lawyer than you might think. Multiple parties could contribute to a charter boat accident, including:

The operator of the vessel may be liable if they exercised poor judgment or behaved recklessly while at the helm. If the operator was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, your attorney may pursue punitive damages in addition to the standard economic and non-economic damages according to Texas law.

If the charter company fails to train its operators or crew properly, it can be liable for any resulting accidents. Companies are also responsible for ensuring the vessel is equipped with all required safety equipment and performing regular maintenance checks to ensure the vessel is seaworthy and fully operational.

Manufacturers of the boat and all associated parts and machinery also have a duty of care to ensure the products they make work as they are supposed to. If the cause of a boat accident can be traced back to a defect or error, your attorney may file a products liability claim with the manufacturer.

Contractors that are called in to make repairs or perform routine maintenance on vessels are also responsible for the boat’s seaworthiness and safety. If an accident occurred because a repair was not done correctly or maintenance teams skipped steps that missed defects or issues, those companies can also be liable for your injuries.

Another boat operator in the area may also contribute to an accident if they drive recklessly or fail to pay proper attention. Passengers on your charter or another nearby one can also be responsible if their actions prevented the crew from performing their duties properly or created a hazardous situation.

In some cases, more than one party may be liable for your injuries. Your lawyer may file South Padre Island charter boat injury claims with all at-fault parties according to their portion of fault for the accident, under Texas’s proportionate responsibility rule.

If you are injured on a charter boat, our South Padre Island boating accident lawyer can help. We have helped hundreds of accident victims win damages from responsible parties, as our law firm’s client reviews demonstrate. We also offer our services on a contingency-fee basis, so you pay nothing unless we win your case. Call us toll-free at 1-800-862-1260 or contact us online now.

For more information:

• Texas Statutes 41
• Texas Statutes 82
• Texas Statutes 33