King County Jury Awards ‘Ride the Ducks’ Victims $123 Million

On February 7^th, the survivors and victims families of the 2015 Ride the Ducks crash that killed five and injured over sixty others were awarded nearly $123 million dollars by a King County jury.

From the Seattle Times:

“The jury determined after a four-month civil trial that Ride the Ducks International — the Branson, Missouri-based manufacturer of the Duck amphibious vehicle — bore 67 to 70 percent of the responsibility for the crash. The jury also found that Ride the Ducks of Seattle, which operated the tour vehicle, was 30 to 33 percent at fault.

Awards to each of the 40 plaintiffs will range from $40,000 to $25 million.

The Superior Court jury determined that two others named in the suit, the city of Seattle and the state of Washington, were not at fault in the crash, which happened when the World War II-era duck vehicle crossed the centerline of Seattle’s Aurora Bridge and plowed into a charter bus full of international students on Sept. 24, 2015.”

The State and the City of Seattle were accused of bearing blame due to known safety issues with the Aurora Bridge, where the crash took place, but attorneys for Washington and Seattle successfully argued their clients were not liable in light of Ride the Ducks negligent actions. Regardless, the city and state both settled with the families of 12 crash victims in 2018.

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