Ride the Ducks faces higher state penalty for fatal crash, but still not the maximum
The penalty that Ride the Ducks of Seattle faces over a fatal crash just went up.
The company had already agreed to a proposed $220,000 settlement with the state. But the Utilities and Transportation Commission decided that wasn't enough. It's proposing $308,000.
A Ride the Ducks tour vehicle crashed on the Aurora Bridge last year, killing five international students. The investigation that followed showed 463 violations -- including 159 critical to public safety.
The transportation commission says a bigger penalty is needed because Ride the Ducks showed an insufficient approach to public safety. Even so, the commission isn't charging as much as it could have, a maximum of $460,000.
Commission spokesperson Amanda Maxwell says some problems, like poor record-keeping, earned lower penalties.
Maxwell: "When issuing penalties we really have to balance the threats to public safety with the number of violations that we found, and there is a matrix that they use to determine penalty amounts. So they imposed the maximum for the critical violations."
The company has five days to formally agree. A Ride the Ducks attorney said in a statement he's satisfied with the new settlement.
The company and city of Seattle also face private lawsuits from survivors of the crash.
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Paige Browning
Newscaster
Paige hosts midday newscasts and monitors news of significance to the Puget Sound region. She hopped over Washington’s mountains to join KUOW, after hosting news and reporting at Spokane Public Radio since 2011. She began her start in radio while a journalism student at University of Montana, by sharing stories with KUFM. Paige was raised in the mountains and rivers around Spokane. In her spare time she cheers on the Mariners in the summer, and hopes for snow in the winter.
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