WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Congressman André Carson's legislation to improve duck boat safety passed the House on Tuesday.
The Duck Boat Safety Improvement Act is in response to one of the boats sinking on a Missouri lake in 2018, killing 17 people — including nine members of an Indianapolis family.
“Today is a major step forward in our effort to make Duck Boats safer and honor the memory of the Coleman family, as well as all who have died in Duck Boat accidents," Carson said. "I thank the surviving members of the Coleman family and their loved ones, particularity Tia Coleman, for their impassioned advocacy on this priority. They have turned their pain into purpose, and for that we are grateful. Now that the House has passed the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, I urge the Senate to also vote in favor of the legislation, so the Duck Boat safety recommendations provided by the National Transportation Safety Board 20 years ago can finally become law. This will no doubt save countless lives.”
The Duck Boat Safety Improvement Act includes the following safety measures:
- Improving reserve buoyancy and watertight compartmentalization to prevent sinking
- Requiring more monitoring and adherence to severe weather alerts and warnings
- Requiring release of road safety seatbelts when Duck Boats become waterborne
- Requiring stronger crew safety training and certification
- Removing or reconfigure canopies and window coverings for waterborne operations
- Requiring personal flotation devices for waterborne operations
- Requiring installation of better bilge pumps and alarms
- Installing underwater LED lights that activate automatically in emergencies
- Complying with other Coast Guard boating safety requirements.
The legislation now heads to the Senate for consideration.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its final report in April 2020 on the Missouri incident and said it blamed the U.S. Coast Guard and Ripley Entertainment, Inc. for the deadly accident.
In its probable cause, the NTSB says the duck boat sank because supervisors with Ripley Entertainment still put boats on the water, even in the middle of a severe thunderstorm warning that had been forecasted and communicated to them.
Plus, the NTSB says the Coast Guard didn't force duck boats to change their design to prevent flooding, even after similar tragedies in the past. The NTSB also says, so many people died in this accident because the boats had fixed canopies and side curtains that essentially trapped passengers during an emergency.
Tia Coleman and her nephew are the only two who survived from their Indianapolis families. Nine of their family members did not survive including Tia's husband Glen, their two sons and their baby daughter.
Tia has become an advocate for greater Duck Boat safety since the tragedy.