Duck boat crash in Seattle raises safety concerns
SEATTLE — Even before a duck boat crashed into a charter bus in Seattle, killing four international students, calls had been made for greater oversight and even a ban on the military-style vehicles that allow tourists to see cities by road and water.
Critics say the large amphibious vehicles are built for war, not for ferrying tourists.
“These are military craft that were never designed to navigate narrow city streets,” said Steve Bulzomi, the attorney for a motorcyclist who was run over and dragged by a duck boat in Seattle in 2011. “This is a business model that requires the driver to be a driver, tour guide and entertainer at the same time.”
About 45 students and staff from North Seattle College were traveling Thursday to the city’s Pike Place Market and Safeco Field for orientation events when witnesses said the duck boat suddenly swerved into their oncoming charter bus.
Brad Volm of Philadelphia was driving in another vehicle and said the amphibious vehicle’s left front tire appeared to lock up.
Authorities say it’s too soon to determine what caused the crash that killed four students from Austria, China, Indonesia and Japan. A National Transportation Safety Board team will lead the investigation.
The president of Ride the Ducks Seattle said his main concern was for the families of the victims. Brian Tracey said, “we will get to the bottom” of the crash.
Tracey said 36 people were on the vehicle, whose driver had Coast Guard certification and a commercial driving license. All company drivers are required to take continuing education classes, he said.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said Ride the Ducks Seattle has voluntarily sidelined its vehicles for the time being. He wasn’t sure whether the duck boats would be allowed to continue in the city. But he said the NTSB is interested in duck boat safety because other such vehicles are operating in other cities.
A similar amphibious tour service recently closed in San Francisco. The city adopted new rules that forbid tour drivers from acting as narrators and require a second person to fill that role.
The amphibious boats are remnants from when the U.S. Army deployed thousands of amphibious landing craft during World War II. Once the war was over, some were converted to sightseeing vehicles in U.S. cities.
Authorities say 51 people were taken to area hospitals, and 14 remained in intensive care at Seattle hospitals.