Personal Injuries During a Cruise

The Port of Los Angeles is a starting point for cruises to Baja California, the Mexican Riviera, Hawaii or even Alaska. Although most major cruise lines will have good safety conditions and even if you are insured, personal injuries during a cruise can happen. A large vessel is a place where many things can go wrong and the tourist must know that even if the ship sails from California when traveling coastal waters the jurisdiction will not apply along the entire cruise.

It is easy to assume that personal injury lawsuits filed for an accident that took place on a ship will concern a passenger that paid for a vacation and was hurt. But crew members are also facing several risks while doing their job on a cruise ship. In this latter case, the Jones Act is the legal document that offers a special provision for the compensation of crew members who are injured while doing their jobs. A Los Angeles personal injury attorney can help you deal with accident cases that took place on a cruise ship.

Cruise ship accidents

Although an accident is the last thing on anyone’s mind when sailing on a cruise to a beautiful place, cruise ship accidents do happen and they can be either minor or serious (those that result in the death of the individual). A ship is a place where every tourist should pay attention to the different safety warnings and procedures. Usually, large cruise ships will have warning signs placed in various appropriate places. If the operator is negligent and did not place this signs where they should have been you can hold this against him in court. Cruise lines operators are required to hire trained staff who is able to handle a number of situations. Failure to do so can represent the basis for legal action, both from the passenger and the employee who was hurt.

While drowning after falling overboard is the most obvious risk when traveling on a ship, other possible risks or dangers include electrocution, defective products, mechanical problems and, in the most dangerous scenarios, sinking. Cruise ship disasters can also include the outbreak of a contagious disease, assault, and other crimes. Accidents and claims that can occur also include tainted food cases, slip and falls or accidents that occur when boarding a boat ferry cruise from the main cruise ship. The cruise line operator may also be accused of negligence if the personal injury took place not on the boat itself but when the plaintiff was on one of the approved excursions during the cruise. In these cases, it is best to talk to a Los Angeles personal injury attorney to find out who is exactly to blame for the injuries.

A cruise should be a memorable and fun experience, however, accidents can happen. If an injury sustained in a cruise was aggravated by the treatment or decisions made by the physician onboard, you can claim compensation for the medical costs needed to treat the medical error, as well as for subsequent treatment that would not have been needed otherwise. A Los Angeles medical malpractice lawyer can assist you.

The video below is a short presentation of personal injury accidents that happen on cruise ships:

Get help from a Los Angeles personal injury attorney

Regardless of the type of injury, you sustain during a cruise on a ship, a personal injury lawyer can help you obtain rightful compensations. It is important that you work with the lawyer and give him or her all the details of the cruise and the events that lead to the accident. Because it can take some time before you can reach a personal injury attorney in Los Angeles, you can start by documenting the evidence yourself even while still on the cruise. It is equally important to keep any relevant documents like the ticket issued by the cruise line: the ticket contract often sets short deadlines (federal law allows a cruise line to require written notice of an injury claim within as little as 6 months and a lawsuit within 1 year, 46 U.S.C. §30526) and may name the court where a lawsuit must be filed.

Cruise accidents are not the only topic covered on this site; information is also available on other types of accidents. Information is also available for mothers looking to claim compensation for an injury that took place during childbirth and was inflicted on themselves and/or their newborn baby. Reach out to birth injury lawyers in Los Angeles for more details.

For more information about dealing with personal injury accidents, you can contact us through the form.

Information is also available on other personal injury cases:

– truck accident attorneys in Los Angeles, 

– brain injury attorneys in Los Angeles,

– slip and fall lawyers in Los Angeles,

– wrongful death attorney in Los Angeles.