Boating Accident FAQs: Clear Answers for Victims

The Most Important Questions Victims Ask After a Boat Crash

The water goes quiet after an accident. You can still hear the motor ticking, smell the fuel in the air, and then someone shouts, “Is everyone okay?” That’s when the questions start.

People who’ve just been through a crash on the Hudson or the Sound don’t ask about legal terms. They ask the same things every time: Who caused this? How bad is it? Who’s paying for it?

Those are fair questions. Boating accidents can destroy more than a vessel, they can take away health, income, or even a sense of safety. At Horn Wright, LLP, our personal injury attorneys spend most of the first meeting answering those questions in plain English, not legal talk. The goal is simple: help people understand what really happens next.

Who Can Be Held Liable in a Boating Accident

Responsibility on the water doesn’t disappear because it’s open space. Someone always controls the wheel, the throttle, or the maintenance schedule. When they make bad choices, people get hurt.

In New York, liability often lands on more than one set of shoulders. It could be:

• The operator, who was distracted, careless, or drinking.
• The owner, if the boat wasn’t seaworthy or was lent to someone unqualified.
• A rental company, when they skip inspections or fail to check safety cards.
• A manufacturer, if bad wiring, steering, or fuel systems fail.
• Even another boater, when two vessels collide because one ignored navigation rules.

New York’s Navigation Law §§40 and 49-a lays out how operators must behave, stay sober, keep a lookout, obey speed limits. The federal Inland Navigation Rules (33 CFR 83) say the same: every captain must maintain control and avoid collisions when it’s possible to do so.

In our cases, liability often fits together like puzzle pieces. One person steered too fast; another skipped maintenance; a company failed to teach safety. We line up those pieces until the picture makes sense, and the law holds the right people accountable.

How Long Do You Have to File a Boating Injury Claim in New York

Time feels strange after an accident. Days blur together with doctor visits and insurance calls. But the law doesn’t wait.

Most boating-injury claims in New York have a three-year deadline under CPLR §214. Wrongful-death cases run shorter, two years from the date of death under EPTL §5-4.1.

If a government vessel or public agency is involve, maybe a harbor patrol boat or city ferry, you have to file a notice of claim within 90 days and a lawsuit within one year and 90 days. Federal craft bring their own rulebook: under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the clock starts ticking at two years, but the first step is filing an administrative claim, not a lawsuit.

Miss a deadline, and the case is gone forever. No matter how serious the injury, no judge can reopen an expired claim. That’s why we tell clients: the sooner we know, the better chance we have to keep your rights alive.

What Compensation Victims Can Expect

No check erases what happened, but compensation keeps life moving when paychecks stop. Under New York law, victims can recover for:

• Medical costs, from ambulance rides to rehab.
• Lost income and future wages.
• Pain and emotional suffering.
• Property loss, when boats or equipment are destroyed.
• Loss of enjoyment, for people who can’t swim, fish, or even step on a dock without fear.
• Wrongful-death damages, covering funeral expenses and lost financial support.

We once represented a deckhand who shattered his leg when another vessel slammed into theirs off City Island. Months of therapy followed, then surgery, then another. The settlement didn’t undo the damage, but it paid the bills and gave his family breathing room. That’s what compensation is supposed to do, make the recovery possible.

New Hampshire Sets Shorter Filing Deadlines for Boating Claims Than New York

Every state handles boating law differently. If that same crash happened on Lake Winnipesaukee instead of Lake George, the timeline would shrink.

New Hampshire usually gives three years to file a claim, sometimes less when government vessels are involved. It doesn’t have the same detailed Navigation Law that New York relies on, and penalties for unsafe boating are lighter.

That means proving negligence can be tougher. There’s less documentation, fewer mandatory reports, and smaller investigations. New York’s stricter laws, especially Navigation Law §46-a, which forces accident reporting within five days, give victims stronger evidence and clearer paths to justice.

It may sound bureaucratic, but those rules matter when someone’s future depends on what’s written down after an accident.

How Insurance Affects Your Claim

Insurance is supposed to make recovery easier, but in boating cases it often does the opposite. Carriers know how expensive maritime injuries get, so they look for ways to trim payouts.

They’ll say weather caused the crash, or that you were partly to blame, or that your injuries “should have healed by now.” In New York, comparative negligence allows partial recovery even when a victim shares fault, but insurers use that rule to cut offers.

Many boat policies also exclude reckless or illegal operation. If the driver was drunk or uncertified under Brianna’s Law, coverage may vanish, forcing direct suits against the operator or rental company.

We push back using facts, Coast Guard logs, cell-phone data, maintenance records, anything that shows negligence caused the harm, not the weather or luck. Insurance companies gamble that victims will give up. We don’t.

What to Do Immediately After a Boating Collision

Right after impact, panic takes over. But what you do in those minutes can save lives and later prove what happened.

Here’s what matters most:

1. Get people safe. Turn off engines, count heads, get everyone out of the water.
2. Call for help. Dial 911 or hail the Coast Guard on channel 16. Give location markers — bridges, buoys, shorelines.
3. Exchange details. Registration numbers, insurance, names, phone numbers.
4. Document the scene. Photos of the boats, the horizon, the weather. Small details later become evidence.
5. File a report. Under Navigation Law §46-a, serious crashes must be reported to the Parks Department within five days.
6. See a doctor. Electric shock, spinal injuries, or concussions don’t always show right away.
7. Call a lawyer early. While you recover, we preserve GPS data, witness names, and Coast Guard records before they vanish.

We’ve learned this from clients who waited too long. By the time they called, the wreck was towed, logs were lost, and the other captain’s story had already changed. Acting quickly keeps control in your hands.

Horn Wright, LLP Provides Straightforward Answers for Boating Victims

Boating accidents don’t just wreck property, they upend lives. People miss work, lose confidence, and sometimes never feel comfortable on the water again.

At Horn Wright, LLP, our personal injury attorneys walk clients through every step: the reports, the medical paperwork, the negotiations that never feel fair. We’ve represented families hurt on the Hudson, weekend boaters on the Finger Lakes, and crew members working off Long Island.

We listen first, then act fast. We track down navigation data, witness statements, Coast Guard findings, every shred of proof. Because the truth doesn’t float forever; you have to catch it before it sinks.

You don’t need legal jargon. You need someone to make sense of chaos and fight until the right people take responsibility. That’s what we do, every single day.