DISMISSAL OF MARITIME NEGLIGENCE ACTION WAS AFFIRMED BECAUSE THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ASSOCIATION CHART FOR THE BAY CLEARLY NOTED THE LOCATION OF THE POWER LINES AND THEIR CLEARANCE OF 30 FEET ABOVE THE CONFLUENCE OF THE BAY AND LAGOON, AND TH
Scott Alprin, Appellant, v. City of Tacoma et al., Respondent.
COURT OF APPEALS OF WASHINGTON, DIVISION TWO
2007 Wash. App. LEXIS 1417
June 5, 2007, Filed
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant, claimant, sued respondent, City of Tacoma and Tacoma Public Utilities (the City), alleging negligence as a matter of law for failing to warn of an overhead power line hazard. The City moved for summary judgment. The Washington trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the City, and the claimant appealed.
OVERVIEW: While sailing, the claimant's sailboat mast hit power transmission cables suspended above the bay. The resulting jolt of electricity severely injured the claimant, threw him into the water, and caused major damage to his sailboat. The appellate court ruled that by including the power lines in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) charts, the City fulfilled its duty to warn as a matter of law. The NOAA chart for the bay clearly noted the location of the power lines and their clearance of 30 feet above the confluence of the bay and lagoon. The appellate court was bound by the admiralty rule that any boater, even a recreational one, was charged with knowledge of all warnings and hazards contained in the NOAA charts. The claimant did not bother to consult or to take notice of the NOAA chart, which clearly showed the location and clearance of the power lines, and he did not heed the red danger buoys, claiming instead to have mistakenly believed that they marked a no-wake zone, also contrary to the NOAA charts.
OUTCOME: The judgment was affirmed.
