WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has announced she is drafting legislation regarding the safety of duck boats.
“We don’t need to wait for another two or three-year investigation,” a spokesperson for McCaskill’s office told the St. Louis Record.
Last week on the Senate floor, McCaskill spoke in detail on the deaths of so many lost in duck boating accidents. Her purposed legislation comes on the heels of the most-recent sinking of a tour boat at Table Rock Lake near Branson that killed 17; however her concern goes back 20 years to 1999, when 13 died in a duck boating incident on Lake Hamilton in Arkansas.
There are two lawsuits, filed this week, against Ride the Ducks, the company that allegedly put client safety second to profit while still operating its flawed vehicles in bad weather. The lawsuits claim Ride the Ducks ignored incoming weather concerns and major design flaws with its boats.
The senator’s bill is not relevant to these specific complaints, but rather intends to make the industry safer.
“The legislation wouldn’t have any impact on these lawsuits,” McCaskill’s spokesperson said. “It’ll take some time before we know exactly what went wrong in Branson, but there’s absolutely no reason to wait to take this common-sense step.”
The senator’s office said her bill has to do with regulation, not blame.
“Claire’s legislation she introduced last week has to do with regulations to the duck boats and their buoyancy and their canopies, and basically recommendations to make it safer,” McCaskill’s spokesperson said.
Some of the safety measures the senator suggests are to require that amphibious vessels be able to stay afloat in severe flooding and enhanced inspections on vessel canopies.
On the Senate floor July 24, McCaskill said she was particularly struck by the rescue divers who were on the scene of the recent boat sinking.
“Their job was to find the bodies that had been trapped in this amphibious vehicle at the bottom of one of the most beautiful lakes in the world,” McCaskill said.
She continued noting the deaths of the nine Coleman family members killed in the accident.
“We mourn their deaths and I think this is a situation where you do feel hopeless, but on the other hand, I do think there are some steps we can take,” McCaskill added.
One of the recently filed lawsuits was on behalf of two members of the Coleman family and seeks $100 million in damages.