Four Ride the Ducks Crash Victims Settle for $8.25 Million Mid-Trial

On September 15, 2015, a Ride the Ducks amphibious tour vehicle lost control on the Aurora Bridge in Seattle after its axle broke, crossing into oncoming traffic and striking a charter bus carrying North Seattle College students on a campus tour. Five people died. Dozens more were injured, many of them international students who had recently arrived in the United States.

Lara Herrmann of Herrmann Law Group represented four of those victims in civil proceedings against Ride the Ducks Seattle and Ride the Ducks International. Her clients included the family of Privando Putradanto, an 18-year-old Indonesian student who was killed, along with three survivors who suffered serious physical injuries: a college student with permanent damage to his back, neck, and shoulder; a student who fractured her collarbone; and a student who broke bones in both hands.

The civil trial in King County Superior Court began in October 2018 and was expected to last several more months. The broader lawsuit named 42 plaintiffs, and claims against the City of Seattle and the State of Washington remained ongoing at the time. In November 2018, with the trial still underway, Herrmann reached a settlement with the duck-boat defendants on behalf of her four clients.

The total settlement came to $8.25 million. The family of the young man who died received $7 million. The three surviving clients received $600,000, $375,000, and $275,000 respectively, reflecting the varying severity of their injuries.

Herrmann told reporters that the outcome represented fair compensation and showed that victims could seek and achieve justice through the American legal system. The case settled during trial, before a verdict on those four claims was reached.