Big Ships and Big Personal Injury Lawsuits

The Titanic had more than 1,500 people die when it hit an iceberg. The largest Italian ocean liner, the Costa Concordia, was like a European city on water until it hit a rock and over 4,000 passengers were either injured or killed.There isn’t a mode of travel that doesn’t have some risk of an accident happening. No matter if you’re traveling by automobile, plane, ship or train, you are putting your life and wellbeing in the hands of others. Simple fact: accidents happen.

Bigger Business Isn’t Always a Good Thing

Just like any business, the cruise industry has grown and prospered. Getting bigger and bigger and so are their ships. There are some ships that hold as many as 6,000 people on them. And the Captain and his crew are responsible for each of them arriving to their destination safely and returning home safely.

Sadly, there are many that don’t. Even with the industry standards requiring improved passenger safety, accidents still happen and thus, the growth in cruise ship law. With approximately 20 million people booking cruises now, there are more ships on the waters and an increase in accidents can be expected.

The Advice of a Lawyer

Since there are more people cruising and more ships on the water, it only makes sense that more accidents are inevitable, right? It shouldn’t be any surprise the number of people that are injured on a cruise ship increases, right? Those injuries are not necessarily from hitting an iceberg, either. They are from diving accidents, food poising and slip and fallaccidents.

This is where the expertise of a personal injury attorney comes into play. They know the laws and they know a passenger’s rights. They are there to make sure the passenger is protected and gets what they have due to them from the cruise line.

You May Not Have a Lawsuit

Not all accidents are lawsuit material, though. This is the first thing that a personal injury attorney will clarify before taking the case. Even when a passenger is hurt on a cruise ship by no fault of their own, the cruise lines have gotten smarter as they have gotten bigger.

Many of the cruise lines now have specific stipulations in their contracts and on their tickets. They have a time limit in which a lawsuit can be filed, which is usually one year. Other personal injury cases, the victim has up to three or four years. Therefore, in a traveler’s best interest, as soon as there is an accident, contact a personal injury attorney.