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Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Boating Accidents

On September 27, 2006 two boats collided head-on in the Intracoastal Waterway near the South Venice boat ramp because one of them was unlit. The unlit boat was a 23-foot Allmond power boat operated by Michael Mackenzie of Venice. Mackenzie's wife, Patricia, was in critical condition. There were three other passengers on board. The other boat was a 19-foot Polar driven by Reid Pettit, who had two passengers aboard.

John Allmond stopped making boats in 1984. In older boats the wiring sometimes deteriorates, making the lighting unreliable. The 23 foot is likely a boat with a forward cabin and raised operating station, which sometimes impairs visibility of other boats. The 19 foot Polar is likely a open sport fishing boat worth about $19,000.

The absence of working lighting is one of those issues which makes limitation of liability hard to sustain. In order to prevail in a limitation case it is necessary to show that the boat was seaworthy when it left the dock and that the cause of the accident was outside of the privity and knowledge of the owner.