A powerboat racer that was killed during the November Key West Super Boat World Championship is at the center of a wrongful death lawsuit that alleges that the race’s producer and two medical directors are guilty of gross negligence, as reported by the Miami Herald.
J.G., 59 at the time of his drowning on November 11, was a veteran boat racer.
Attorney Michael Allweiss filed the suit on behalf of J.G.’s widow, P.G. Named in the suit are the president of Super Boat International, Inc., J.C. and the medical directors of the race, D.D. and B.H.
The suit seeks over $15,000 in damages and a trial by jury.
During the first turn in the final lap of the second race – there were three scheduled races in all that day – the 38-foot catamaran piloted by S.P. overturned. J.G., at the throttles, was trapped in his seat while S.P. was able to escape via the boat’s escape hatch in the floor of the cockpit.
While J.G. – alive and unharmed – struggled to free himself for several minutes from the harness he was only aided by air through an emergency tank. The lawsuit contends that “angels” – certified rescue diver paramedics – hovered over the scene but were not deployed. Instead, in a cost-saving measure, J.C. chose to send two “untrained, inexperienced and ill-equipped volunteers” from a boat nearby.
As the race continued around the catamaran, the volunteers swam for several minutes before reaching J.G. By that time the boat had begun to sink. The suit alleges that as the boat sunk the escape hatch shut and J.G. was trapped inside.
The volunteers tried to release the hatch, but by the time they were able to open it, J.G. had run out of air and drowned.
Allweiss, who is a former director for the American Power Boat Association, wrote, “… This should have been a routine, successful rescue, had Defendants merely followed standard industry practices, procedures, and protocols, and SBI’s own rules.”
The suit further states that in an effort to avoid liability in an accident, J.C. did not allow rescue personnel to conduct a pre-race safety inspection that would have helped them to become more familiar with each of the boats in the race.
Two days before J.G.’s death, the suit states, two other men had drowned, B.M. and J.T., when their Big Thunder boat flipped upside down in Key West Harbor’s first boating race of the day.
Allweiss stated that none of those named in the suit did anything to make sure that “obvious defects and deficiencies” in their policies had been corrected to avoid a similar tragedy.
Allweiss told reporters, “If you had two people drown and you did nothing to shore up your response, then people need to go to jail.”
Both J.G.’s death, and the deaths of B.M. and J.T., were ruled accidental.
Loosing a loved one in a wrongful death – with the knowledge that it could have been prevented – is grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit. Monetary awards for your damages are commonly made. Contact a personal injury lawyer for help today!