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Archive for Propeller Guards

Honda Air Bag Propeller Guard Patent Application

Honda Motor Co of Japan filed a U.S. patent application for a propeller guard partially consisting of an air bag The patent application, US 2023/0278686 A1 “Outboard Motor Control Apparatus and Control Method for Outboard Motor” was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on September 7, 2023. Honda’s patent application has to do […]

Boat Propeller Guard Product Liability Defense Intro Vol1

In the mid to late 1980’s Mercury Marine, a Brunswick Corporation, and Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) were facing a large number of boat propeller guard product liability / product defect lawsuits. Several of those lawsuits related to kill switches not being installed. This post is the second of a series of five posts announcing the […]

Boat Propeller Guard Product Liability Defense

We have completed a major project in which we studied the period in which Mercury Marine and Outboard Marine Corporation developed their legal defense against the use of boat propeller guards on recreational boats. This post is the first of five on this topic. Their defense is based on three documents which they helped create: […]

1989 NBSAC Propeller Guard Subcommittee Report Vol2

This post is the third of a series of five posts covering the boating industry’s legal defense against boat propeller guard product liability / product defect lawsuits. It focuses on our review of the 1989 U.S. Coast Guard National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC) Propeller Guard Subcommittee report. This post is a condensed version of […]

Underwater Head Impact Propeller Guard report Volume3

This post is the fourth of a series of five posts covering the boating industry’s legal defense. Specifically, their legal defense against boat propeller guard product liability / product defect lawsuits. It focuses on our review of the 1990 underwater testing of a propeller guard impacting an anthropomorphic dummy’s head. The testing was performed at […]

Underwater Leg Impact Propeller Guard report Volume4

This post is the fifth of a series of five posts covering the boating industry’s legal defense. Specifically, their legal defense against boat propeller guard product liability / product defect lawsuits. It focuses on our review of the 1990 underwater testing of a propeller guard impacting cadaver legs. The testing was performed at State University […]

Reduce Peak Impact Force of Boat Propeller Guards

This Tech Brief explains a method that may reduce maximum impact force of some boat propeller guards striking people. This method may also: Reduce injuries caused by striking some boat propeller guards at lower speeds. Allow some propeller guards to be operated at higher speeds while causing less severe injuries to people in the water. […]

Cioban v. Silverthorn: houseboat propeller case decided

A hat blew off woman on the upper deck of a rental houseboat on Shasta Lake in California back on May 30, 2015. Olga Cioban walked down to the first deck, heard an engine running she thought was the generator, jumped from the stern to retrieve the hat, and was struck by the houseboat propeller. […]

Ryan’s Law & Federal Preemption- part 1

Ryan’s Law, is a proposed law in the State of New York requiring propeller guards on vessels used to instruct children under the age of 18. In October 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard National Boating Safety Advisory Council met and basically said Ryan’s Law is preempted by federal regulations and will be struck down. The […]

Ryan’s Law & Federal Preemption- part 2

This post is a continuation of Part 1 of our post on federal preemption of Ryan’s Law, a law requiring propeller guards on vessels involved in instructing children under 18 years old. Our previous post cited several instances in the U.S. Coast Guard National Boating Safety Council (NBSAC) 100th meeting (NBSAC100) minutes in which NBSAC […]