Six years after the Florida water scooter accident that killed 14-year-old Yasell Perez and left then-15-year-old Samantha Archer with serious injuries, their families are in court seeking damages from Yamaha for Palm Beach County wrongful death, products liability, and personal injury. The jury trial opened last week and the plaintiffs are seeking millions.
The tragic Palm Beach County injury accident occurred on Easter Sunday on March 2005 after the teens got on a WaveRunner on the Intracoastal Waterway. Five minutes after taking off, the WaveRunner struck a boat, killing Perez and causing Archer, now 21, to sustain serious injuries, including a traumatic brain damage, a broken pelvis, and gashes to her legs, stomach and groin. She was hospitalized for two months and had to return several times to undergo surgery. Doctors have testified that Archer has lost the mental and emotional abilities that would allow her to sustain a marriage, hold a job, have a kid, or live independently.
A lawyer for Yamaha has said that the teenagers shouldn’t have told the WaveRunner’s owner that they knew how to operated the personal watercraft. He also notes that Archer at the time of the accident was under 16, which is the legal age for operating a water scooter in Florida. Meantime, the plaintiffs are claiming that a steering problem with the WaveRunner prevented the girls from being able to avoid striking the boat. Their lawyer contends that the PWC accident that killed the girls could have been avoided if only Yamaha had listened to concerns it had been receiving for years about problems with the WaveRunner’s steering system. Archer is seeking almost $7 million, while Perez’s family is also seeking millions.
Personal watercrafts are not toys. When they malfunction, they can cause serious injuries. You may be able to recover Palm Beach boating accident damages.
Mother says WaveRunner crash turned daughter’s life into ‘nightmare you never wake up from’, The Palm Beach Post, May 19, 2011
Millions at stake in Palm Beach trial against Yamaha over teen’s death in 2005, SunSentinel, May 7, 2011
Related Web Resources:
Yamaha WaveRunner
Products Liability, Nolo
Jet Skis & Waverunners, Florida PWC Rules & Safety
More Blog Posts:
Miami-Dade Wrongful Death Lawsuit Seeks Damages Over Fatal Jacuzzi Drowning at Bahamian Resort, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 17, 2011 14-Year-Old Injured in Palm Beach County Boating Accident Has Part of Her Leg Amputated, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, February 8, 2011
7-Year-Old Pedestrian Injured in North Lauderdale Car Accident is in a Coma, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, December 23, 2010