Miami Lawyer for Trip and Fall Accidents on Cruise Ship Gangways and Gangplanks
Trip and fall and slip and fall accidents can occur anywhere on a ship. One problem area this cruise ship injury law firm encounters frequently are trip and falls occur during the process of embarking and disembarking from cruise ships. Gangways and ramps used to transfer passengers on and off the ship can present serious hazards. These gangways vary greatly depending on the ship’s size, the port’s capabilities, and weather conditions. Many ramps are made of metal, which becomes slippery when wet, and uneven surfaces can cause serious accidents, especially for elderly or disabled passengers. As cruise ship injury lawyers, Perkins Law offices has handled several serious injuries from trip and falls on gang planks and ramps when boarding cruises as well as slip and falls.
Cruise lines are responsible to provide safe ingress and egress to passengers when boarding or disembarking. This includes having crew available to assist passengers and to be on the lookout for potential dangers and passengers who may be unsteady on their feet. These ramps are inherently dangerous. They can cause people to lose balance due the changes in surface materials, pitch, and fluctuating tide levels and boat movements. Ramps add layers of risk to transitions from ship to port and vice versa.
Gangplanks used to board and disembark from cruise ships are seemingly most hazardous to older passengers who may use assistive walking devices like walkers, canes and wheelchairs. Their assistive devices can get caught in on a threshold or groove causing them to be tripped up and thrown to the ground. Broken hips are common and could be the beginning of the end for some older folks. Our cruise ship injury law firm has encountered several gangplank cases for passengers over 65 years of age. This is not surprising because the statistics reflect that about 25% of cruise goers are over the age of 65 and these are the most difficult areas to traverse being that they are not part of the ship itself and must be somewhat porotable depending on configurations of the dock and ship. These gang planks can be especially dangerous when cruise staff fail to assist elderly or disabled passengers. Sometimes cruise lines fail to properly inspect and maintain their gangways or follow their own policies and procedures of having crew members stationed to nearby to assist passengers. Gangways can different at each port and pose different hazards. Some are flat ramps, other have stairs. They can vary in length and incline depending on the port and ship, leading to difficult conditions for unfamiliar passengers to safely utilize.
Wet gangways pose a known serious risk to passengers embarking and disembarking from cruise ships when it is raining. Gang planks are known for people slip and falling down gang planks. The exposure to inclement weather conditions can result in gangplanks being dangerously slick when wet with hundreds to thousands of passengers walking over them tracking whatever they may have stepped in earlier in the day. Combine that with overcrowded lines, shopping bags, luggage and food and drink, makes it foreseeable people will slip and fall or trip and fall. Dropped items and anticipation of providing trip cards to gain access increases the overcrowding and risk of falls as well. Cruise lines could ensure that anti-slip materials are used on gangways and that crew members are present to dry wet areas, pick up trash or dropped items, and to assist passengers, particularly the elderly or disabled.
Under federal maritime law, cruise lines owe passengers a duty of “reasonable care under the circumstances.” In Kermarec v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, 358 U.S. 625 (1959), the U.S. Supreme Court established that cruise lines are not required to be insurers of passengers’ safety but must take reasonable precautions to prevent harm. However, in some cases, cruise lines may be held to a higher duty as common carriers, which are required to exercise the highest degree of care to ensure passengers’ safety. Franza v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 772 F.3d 1225 (11th Cir. 2014), is a notable case that expanded the cruise line’s potential liability under certain circumstances.
At Perkins Law Offices, our cruise ship injury lawyers have handled multiple cases involving injuries from unsafe gangways and ramps. These injuries can be serious, often involving broken bones or head injuries. Cruise lines are legally responsible for providing safe passage to and from their ships, and our firm knows how to hold them accountable when they fail. We have successfully litigated against all the major cruise lines based in South Florida for failing to provide assistance and maintain safe embarkation and disembarkation procedures. If you or a loved one has been injured while embarking or disembarking from a cruise ship, call Perkins Law Offices at 305-741-5297 or visit perkinslawoffices.com and fill out our contact form.
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