Duck boat safety could improve
Baker eyes lifejackets for Mass.
Updates to the laws regulating duck boats have improved safety in Massachusetts, but the tragedy in Branson, Mo., that took the lives of 17 people may prompt another look, especially at the use of life jackets on the popular rides, said Gov. Charlie Baker.
Baker said he was concerned with reports that passengers may not have been wearing life preservers as the violent storm hit.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the 31 people aboard the Missouri tourist boat that sank weren’t wearing life jackets.
“That’s a huge issue that ought to be dealt with and dealt with here,” Baker said.
Two years ago, Massachusetts implemented a law requiring significant safety upgrades on duck boats after 28-year-old Allison Warmuth was hit and killed by a duck boat while riding on a scooter in Beacon Hill.
The law banned drivers from serving as tour guides at the same time and added cameras and proximity sensors to the vehicles. Under a settlement with the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office, Boston Duck Tours agreed to use more stringent criteria for hiring drivers, and avoid the area where Warmuth was killed on the anniversary of her death.
An official with the National Transportation Safety Bureau told CNN that it could take up to a year to issue a final report on the tragedy in Branson.
A spokeswoman for Ripley Entertainment, the company operating the duck boats in Branson, did not respond yesterday to telephone and email messages seeking comment.
Spokeswoman Suzanne Smagala has noted that Thursday’s accident was the only one in more than 40 years of operation.
Steve Paul, owner of the Test Drive Technologies inspection service in St. Louis, said he issued a written report for the company in August 2017. It explained why the boats’ engines — and pumps that remove water from their hulls — might fail in inclement weather.
“If you have the information that you could have rough waters or a storm coming, why ever put a boat on that water?” Paul said.
The U.S. Coast Guard said the boat that sank was built in 1944 and had passed an inspection in February, The Kansas City Star reported.
But Paul said the boat would have been heavily modified to make it longer so that only part of it dates to World War II. He said it would still have the design flaw he identified in his report.
He declined to share a copy of his report but said he said he is willing to make it available to authorities.
“I’m sure eventually it will be subpoenaed,” he said.