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Commencement Bay, the Tacoma Narrows, American Lake, and Lake Tapps draw recreational boaters year-round. When another operator's negligence causes a collision, a propeller strike, or a capsizing, the injuries can be as serious as anything that happens on the road, and the path to recovering compensation is considerably more complicated. Freeman Law Firm represents boating accident victims in Tacoma and throughout Pierce County.
Tacoma's waters see commercial vessel traffic alongside recreational boats, personal watercraft, and fishing vessels year-round. Accidents typically happen in one of the following ways:
Water-based collisions produce serious injuries because of the speeds involved, the hardness of vessel hulls and docks, and the added danger of ending up in cold Puget Sound water.
Boating accident injuries range from traumatic brain injuries from impact with a hull, dock, or the water surface itself, to spinal cord damage from high-speed collisions or being thrown from a vessel. Propeller strikes produce lacerations that are frequently severe and can result in amputation. Near-drowning and full submersion carry the risk of hypoxic brain injury from oxygen deprivation, and cold water exposure in the South Sound creates rapid hypothermia even in summer months.
Fatal boating accidents sometimes occur on Puget Sound and the surrounding South Sound waterways. RCW 4.20.010 gives the court-appointed personal representative of the deceased's estate the right to bring a wrongful death case in Washington on behalf of eligible family members, with its own timeline and its own categories of recoverable damages. If you lost a loved one in a boating accident, our boating accident attorneys handle both personal injury and wrongful death cases and will pursue every avenue of recovery available to your family.
Liability in a Tacoma boating accident can extend beyond the operator to the vessel owner, a charter company, or a marina, depending on the circumstances.
Washington follows pure comparative fault under RCW 4.22.005, which means your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, but you are not barred from recovering even if you share some responsibility for the accident.
Freeman Law Firm’s personal injury lawyers will identify every responsible party and pursue the full compensation you deserve.
A boating accident case in Tacoma can be governed by Washington state law, federal admiralty law, or both, depending on where the accident occurred and its connection to maritime commerce.
Puget Sound and Commencement Bay are navigable waters of the United States, which means federal admiralty jurisdiction can apply to accidents that occur on them. Whether it does depends on a two-part test:
When federal maritime law applies, it can affect the statute of limitations, which categories of damages are available, and whether the case proceeds in state or federal court.
Freeman Law Firm determines which body of law governs your case, where it can be filed, and what damages are on the table.
RCW 79A.60.200 requires the operator of a vessel involved in a collision or casualty to report accident information to the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction. Washington Administrative Code 352-70 sets the specific reporting triggers: death or disappearance, injury requiring more than first aid, property damage exceeding $2,000, or complete loss of a vessel. The report is due within 48 hours for a death, disappearance, or serious injury, and within 10 days for other reportable accidents.
Road accidents leave physical evidence like skid marks, debris fields, fixed camera footage, and a scene that holds for hours. Boating accidents don't. Vessels are moved or repaired, debris sinks, water conditions change, and witnesses who were on nearby boats disperse quickly. Getting an attorney involved in a boating accident case as soon as possible is directly tied to what evidence can be recovered and preserved.
Compensation in a Washington boating accident case can cover:
Marine liability insurance works differently than auto insurance, and the structure and limits of the at-fault party's policy will directly affect how the case resolves. Our boating accident attorneys have experience working through the insurance side of boat accident cases and will identify coverage issues so that they don’t negatively affect any settlement or award amounts.
A viable boating accident case in Washington rests on four elements of negligence. All four have to be present.
Every boat operator on Washington waters owes a duty of reasonable care to others on the water, including passengers, people on nearby vessels, swimmers, and anyone else in the vicinity.
A breach occurs when the operator, owner, or another responsible party failed to meet the duty of care standard. Speeding in a congested area, operating under the influence, ignoring navigation rules, and putting an unsafe vessel on the water are all examples of breach.
The breach has to have directly caused the injury. Causation is where insurance carriers and defense attorneys push back hardest. They may claim that the accident didn’t cause the injuries being treated, or argue that a pre-existing condition accounts for the damage.
Damages means the injury produced measurable losses: medical expenses, lost income, lasting physical harm, or in a wrongful death case, the loss of a family member. Without documented damages, there is no financial recovery.
If you are unsure whether your situation meets the criteria above, Freeman Law Firm offers a free, no obligation consultation to review what happened and tell you where you stand.
Serious personal injury cases on the water require an attorney who has worked through the state versus federal jurisdiction analysis and understands how marine liability insurance is structured. Experience with the investigative challenges boating accidents present directly affects how a case gets built and what a client can ultimately recover.
Most boating accident cases resolve before trial, but the insurance carrier on the other side knows whether your attorney will take a case to a jury or not. An attorney who is prepared and willing to go to trial (and has done it) negotiates from a different position than one who isn't.
Past results in serious personal injury cases give a concrete picture of what an attorney has been able to do for clients. Settlements and verdicts in comparable cases are more meaningful than general statements about experience.
A serious injury case can take a year or longer to resolve. How a firm communicates, how accessible attorneys are, and whether clients feel genuinely supported throughout that process has a direct effect on the experience. Client reviews and testimonials can show the types of results being acquired for clients, but also how clients were treated during the case.
Yes. Washington's pure comparative fault rule under RCW 4.22.005 reduces your recovery by your percentage of fault, but partial fault does not bar you from recovering compensation.
Washington law can hold a boat owner liable even when someone else was at the wheel at the time of the accident. Both the operator and the owner may be responsible depending on the circumstances.
Washington's personal injury statute of limitations is three years from the date of injury under RCW 4.16.080. If federal maritime law applies to your case, a separate three-year limitations period under general maritime law may govern instead. The statute of limitations in wrongful death cases starts from the date of death and not the date of the accident, which can create a different timeline than the injury case. Our attorneys can identify which deadline applies to your specific situation.
Freeman Law Firm handles boating accident cases on a contingency fee basis, which means there are no upfront costs and no attorney fees unless compensation is recovered.
Freeman Law Firm has recovered millions for injured clients in Washington, and every case is handled with the same level of attention from the first call to the final resolution. Boating accident victims in Tacoma and Pierce County get direct access to attorneys who are prepared to take a case as far as it needs to go.
Freeman Law Firm also gives back 1% of attorney fees upon case completion to a charity of the client's choosing, which turns every recovery into something that reaches beyond the case itself.
There are no upfront costs and no attorney fees unless compensation is recovered. Contact Freeman Law Firm today at (253) 383-4500 for a free consultation.