Posted by Greg Mossman on January 30, 2005 at 12:13:04:
In Reply to: Re: Drifting Dan sues shop, Captain Ray, and boat for $4,000,000 posted by BSF on January 29, 2005 at 17:03:01:
Countered for what? That sort of precedent would be a much greater negative to the local diving industry, if boats and passengers were allowed to sue any time they varied from their normal diving day to rescue a diver or respond to a diving accident. Besides, damages, unless one could prove emotional distress, would be limited to a lost day of diving or the extra fuel expended in searching, not even worth paying the court's filing fee.
As for liability insurance, if Dan is a homeowner, his homeowner's policy may provide coverage.
Regardless, wasn't it Dan's buddies who left him when he couldn't equalize? That's what the newspapers reported. He made the 'mistake' of going deeper on his own to find them, but isn't that what the agencies teach? To spend a minute trying to find your buddy before surfacing? Reportedly he went from 30' to 108' looking for them. That's about 80' deeper which corresponds to 1 minute at an 80 fpm descent. It's likely he was following correct PADI protocol, then ascended when he couldn't find them.