Another lawsuit filed in Ride the Ducks crash on Aurora Bridge
SEATTLE - Ride The Ducks of Seattle and its parent company face yet another lawsuit for the crash on the Aurora Bridge that killed five people.
Today, the family of Mami Sato, a 36-year-old Japanese student killed in the crash, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company, the City of Seattle, and Washington State.
In court documents, Sato is described as an accomplished athlete who loved skiing, snowboarding and volleyball.
She had just arrived in Seattle just four days before she was killed in the accident. She came here to study accounting, and wanted to become a certified public accountant in the U.S.
A Seattle attorney who represents the family says they have suffered greatly, as any family does that suffers a great loss.
“It’s very difficult. It’s unexpected and unnecessary. It’s hard,” said family attorney James S. Rogers.
This lawsuit is one of several filed by those injured, and families of those killed, in the crash.
"In any civil litigation, when there's fault of another person or a corporation, any entity, all you can get under our law is damages, is monetary damages,” Rogers said. “And really that's what justice is. So, it's equivalent to justice. Seeking damages because of the loss."
A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary investigation blamed the crash on a defective axle.
Half of the company's 20 duck vehicles are now carrying passengers again, but drivers take a different route that avoids the Aurora Bridge.