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Wrongful Death of Teenage Boy in Jet Ski Collision
Zac Springer's mother contacted Brett & Coats through the firm's website to seek a second opinion after her initial lawyer advised that the claim was not worth pursuing. Since Zac had died in a jet ski accident and there was no automobile insurance available, he concluded that the claim had no recoverable value. Brett & Coats determined that homeowners insurance provided coverage for the homeowner's failure to supervise use of a jet ski while the family was on vacation. The Estate of Zachary Springer recovered $2.5 million for his tragic death in the jet ski accident.
The claim arose when Zac Springer was invited to accompany a friend and his father on vacation to Lake Powell, Utah. The friend's father and his adult friends had rented two houseboats, a ski boat, and two jet skis, signing a rental agreement that explicitly prohibited use of the jet skis by anyone under 18. Utah law requires that minors use jet skis only after being trained and certified, and then only under close adult supervision. Instead of supervising Zac and his friend, the father partied while letting the 15-year-old boys ride the jet skis, contrary to the rental contract, the laws of Utah, and common sense. The friend accidentally ran into Zac, lacerating his liver, and resulting in his death.
Liability arose from the father's failure to supervise his son and Zac. Utah recognizes the duty to protect third parties outlined in Restatement of Torts (2nd), §315-320. The special relationship giving foundation to the duty to protect Zac arose not only from the father's failure to supervise his own son, who drove his jet ski into Zac, but also from the father's failure to supervise Zac's use of the jet ski after his parents allowed the father to act in loco parentis, promising to take responsibility for Zac's safety during the vacation.
The Jet Ski rental agreement lists 19 warnings--beginning with warning number 1:
1. MINIMUM OPERATOR AGE-18. Under the Utah State Boating Act Sections 73-18-15.2 Minimum age of operators - Boating safety course for youth to operate personal watercraft:
(2) A person who is at least 12 years of age or older but under 16 years of age may operate a personal watercraft provided he:
(a) Is under the direct supervision of a person who is at least 18 years of age;
(b) Completes a boating safety course approved by the division; and,
(c) Has in his possession a boating safety certificate issued by the boating safety course provider.
...
5. A person may not give persmission to another person to operate a vessel in violation of this section.
6. As used in this section, "direct supervision" means oversight at a distance within which visual contact is maintained
The father violated the rental agreement, Utah state law, and his promise to Zac's parents that he would supervise Zac during the vacation. Punitive damages were requested under Utah Code Title 78 Chapter 18-1 for "...conduct that manifests a knowing and reckless indifference toward, and a disregard of, the rights of others.: Behrens v. Raleigh Hills Hospital, Inc.,675 P.2d 1179 (Utah, 1983). A larger punitive damage award for a breach of trust becomes more appropriate the greater the trust placed in the defendant. Diversified Holdings, L.C. v. Turner, 63 P.3d 686, 463 Utah Adv. Rep. 66 (2002). There are few breaches of trust that can be imagined greater than leaving your child in another parent's care who then illegally sends him out to play on a jet ski.
An investigation determined that the rental agent who gave the Jet Ski instruction noticed that "...they wasn't (sic) interested so much in my instruction. I felt they just wanted to leave quick..." Although the rental party "...indicated to me they were experienced boaters...," at the time the houseboats were turned over, people were already "drinking and partying..." In fact, the members of the rental party were not experienced boaters.
Several witnesses at the scene verified that the father knew that no one under 18 was allowed to use the jet skis and that the two boys had not attended the boating safety course required by Utah law or obtained the required boating safety certificate.
The father rented the jet skis and then gave the minor boys permission to operate them in violation of the statute. He then failed to provide the required "direct supervision." The jet skis were Kawasaki STX 22-Fs, 10 feet long, 4 feet wide, weighing 717 pounds, with a 1200cc 4 stroke engine developing 125 horse power.
The tragedy occurred on the afternoon of the first full day of the vacation. The two boys took the jet skis out around 5:00p.m. This vacation was Zac's first use of a jet ski ever, and he was operating with absolutely no adult supervision, over a mile from the anchored houseboats. The boys were operating their jet skis at about 25 m.p.h. when Zac's friend t-boned his jet ski, which apparently stopped in the water. Since Zac was the forward water craft, it was the "stand on vessel" with right-of-way. Zac was hit and knocked off the jet ski. His friend jumped into the water to hold the unconscious Zac afloat. They were in the water together for nearly 30 minutes before help arrived.
According to investigators, it took 20 minutes for the "adult supervisors" to get a ski boat launched to rescue the boys, and another 20 minutes of CPR before they could figure out how to work the marine radio because no one knew how to operate a marine radio, because there was something wrong with this particular marine radio, or because the operators were too intoxicated to figure it out.
In sum, the adults' failure to supervise the young boys on the powerful machines led to Zac's death.
The claim was brought under Utah's wrongful death statute, Title 78 Chapter 11-6. Recoverable damages included funeral and medical expenses, the value of services the decedent might have rendered to the household, the amount of money the deceased child might have earned, if his projected income would have exceeded the cost of his maintenance and care, and the loss of society, companionship, protection and affection, which constitutes the heart of the action. Jones v. Carvell, 641 P.2d 105 (Utah, 1982). The Utah Constitution, Article 16, Section 5, provides that the amount recoverable for a wrongful death claim can never be limited, so there is no limitation on a jury determination of value.
The recovery came from the entire policy limits of the friend's father's homeowners' policy, a source of recovery found when Zac's mother sought a second opinion at Brett & Coats.
