About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 [1] (July 20, 2018)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthzzaxr0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CRS INSIGHT Duck Boat Accident Highlights Gap in Regulation July 20, 2018 (IN10932) I Related Author *Bill Cania Bill Canis, Specialist in Industrial Organization and Business (bcanis(,crs bc ovy 7-1568) On July 19, 2018, an amphibious vehicle Lapaijd during a sudden storm on a lake in Branson, MO, killing at least 17 passengers. The accident highlights gaps and discrepancies in federal safety regulations affecting amphibious passenger vehicles (APVs), more widely known as duck boats. Duck boats are tourist vehicles designed both to drive on roads and operate as boats in the water. These vehicles host thousands of tours for more than 1 million passengers annually. The original vehicles were built during World War II to deliver cargo from ships at sea directly to the shore, and often to evacuate injured military personnel. Some of the vehicles in use today have been refurbished, but others were built more recently. Many duck boats are operated under a license from Ride the Ducks International (RTDI), a private company, but there may be others operated independently as well. These vehicles have been involved in a number of accidents in recent years. In September 2015, a duck boat was involved in a crash with a commercial bus on a bridge in Seattle, killing five passengers. APV accidents occurred in Boston in 2016 and Philadelphia in 2010, and include an earlier incident in Seattle in 2001 and a sinking with 13 fatalities in Arkansas in 1999. These unique vehicles answer to several regulators. Because they operate in the open water of harbors and rivers, they are considered small passenger vessels, and the U.S. Coast Guard must inspect them for seaworthiness and certify the drivers as vessel captains. Since APVs also carry passengers on land, they are subject to federal commercial vehicle regulations enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Commercial vehicle inspections typically are conducted by state agencies. In addition, drivers must be certified by state officials as commercial vehicle drivers. And because the vehicles were rebuilt for commercial service, they must comply with certain federal motor vehicle standards established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). After investigating the 2015 APV crash in Seattle, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an independent federal agency, issued an accident report with recommendations to enhance the safe operation of these vehicles. Among NTSB's recommendations, . NHTSA should classify all APVs as non-over-the-road buses and make newly manufactured APVs subject to

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most