Cruise Ship Companies Be Held Liable for Storm-Related Injuries?
Cruise ship companies and staff have a responsibility to respond appropriately during emergencies, including bad storms. If the cruise fails to uphold that responsibility and you suffer injuries as a result, can the cruise line be held liable?
You can hold a cruise ship company liable for storm-related injuries due to negligence. Cruise ship companies are liable when they don’t secure furniture or other heavy items that could injure passengers during bad weather, make decks in accessible during times of high winds and bad rain, or acknowledge weather reports showing dangerous wind, rain, or waves ahead.
For help with your case from Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind, P.A., call our cruise ship injury lawyers today at (305) 204-5369.
Can You Hold a Cruise Ship Company Liable for Storm-Related Injuries?
Storm-related injuries shouldn’t happen often on cruise ships, as the crew should warn passengers of inclement weather and prepare the ship for a bad storm to avoid accidents and injuries.
If the cruise fails to respond properly to upcoming dangerous weather, passengers are at risk of injury. Common acts of negligence that lead to storm-related injuries include failing to secure heavy items or furniture that could injure passengers during a storm, failing to alert passengers to an oncoming storm, and leaving decks accessible during bad weather.
You can’t hold a cruise ship company liable for storm-related injuries that are not due to the ship’s negligence. Injuries caused by completely unforeseen weather may not warrant a lawsuit.
What Do You Have to Prove to Hold a Cruise Ship Company Liable for Storm-Related Injuries?
To hold the cruise ship liable for your storm-related injuries, we must satisfy all four elements of a personal injury claim.
Duty of Care
The first step is establishing that the defendant owed you a duty of care. Cruise ships owe passengers a duty to maintain a seaworthy vessel, provide adequate security, address hazards to avoid injury, and act with passengers’ safety in mind. Your ticket establishes that you were a passenger and that the cruise ship company and its employees owed you a duty of care.
Breach of Duty
The next step is proving that the cruise ship company or a crew member breached their duty of care. This would be the negligent act that led to your storm-related injuries, such as ignoring weather forecasts, failing to secure heavy items, or failing to make decks inaccessible during severe storms.
Causation
You must prove that the cruise ship company’s negligence ultimately caused your storm-related injuries. Proving this causal link can be difficult in these cases, so having our uise ship injury lawyers’ help is important. We can use eyewitness statements, weather reports, and internal records we obtain through a subpoena to prove how and why you were injured.
Damages
Finally, we need to prove the total amount of your damages and the amount the cruise ship company should pay for storm-related injuries. Proof of damages comes in the form of hospital bills, income records, and your personal testimony about your pain and suffering.
What Damages Can You Get from a Cruise Ship for Storm-Related Injuries?
Let us calculate all the damages from your storm-related injuries so you know how much you should recover from a lawsuit.
Economic Damages
Storm-related accidents include slip and falls, falls over, and crushing injuries, all of which can cause life-threatening and life-altering injuries. All medical care for your injuries should be compensated, including care at foreign hospitals if you need to be medically evacuated from the ship.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages should compensate you for the pain, suffering, and other intangible harms you endure after suffering any injuries due to negligence on a cruise ship, storm-reacted or not.
Punitive Damages
You may even potentially get punitive damages for storm-related injuries if the cruise ship willfully ignored reports of inclement weather, and this egregious misconduct led to damages. Punitive damages are used to punish defendants, not compensate victims for any losses.
FAQs About Holding Cruise Ship Companies Liable for Storm-Related Injuries
How Much Time Do Passengers Have to Hold Cruise Ship Companies Liable for Storm-Related Injuries?
You may only have one year to hold a cruise ship company liable for storm-related injuries. Even sooner than that, within six months of the incident, you must send the cruise ship company notice of your upcoming claim.
What Evidence Helps You Hold a Cruise Ship Company Liable for Storm-Related Injuries?
We can use photographs, cruise ship incident reports, medical records, eyewitness statements, and weather reports to hold a cruise ship company liable for your storm-related injuries.
What Economic Damages Do Cruise Ship Companies Pay for Storm-Related Injuries?
You can seek compensation for all economic damages from a storm-related injury due to negligence. This includes the cost of your medical evacuation from the ship, all medical care, any lost wages, and other out-of-pocket expenses like a new plane ticket home.
What Non-Economic Damages Do Cruise Ship Companies Pay for Storm-Related Injuries?
Cruise ship companies can also be held liable for non-economic damages, as suffering storm-related injuries can be especially traumatic and frightening for passengers.
Do You Have to Go to Court to Hold a Cruise Ship Company Liable for Storm-Related Injuries?
You don’t necessarily have to go to court to hold a cruise ship company liable for storm-related injuries, as our lawyers may negotiate a large settlement agreement that keeps your case out of court and yields compensation sooner.
Do You Need a Lawyer to Hold a Cruise Ship Company Liable for Storm-Related Injuries?
Having a lawyer by your side improves your chances of successfully holding a cruise ship company liable for storm-related injuries and recovering all the damages you have incurred.
Call Us for Help Getting Damages for Cruise Ship Injuries
For a free case evaluation from Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind, P.A., call our cruise ship injury lawyers at (305) 204-5369.
