BOSTON — With their festive, party-like ambiance and ability to travel on land and in water, duck boats have long been tourist attractions for sightseers around the U.S. But a string of deadly accidents has left the industry reeling, forced safety improvements and led some advocates to call for a total ban on the vehicles.
In Seattle, after five college students were killed in a 2015 duck boat collision with a bus, the company pulled half its fleet out of service. In Philadelphia, a duck boat operator suspended its tours indefinitely after three people were killed in two separate crashes. And in Boston, new safety regulations are set to go into effect in April after a duck boat ran over and killed a 28-year-old woman last spring.
Boston has a special fondness for duck boats, which have become a mainstay of parades celebrating sports championships. Earlier this month, two dozen duck boats carried the New England Patriots through the streets of Boston for a "rolling rally" to celebrate the team's Super Bowl win.
But duck boats have lost some of their appeal in Boston and other places where people have been seriously injured or killed.
"We believe that duck boats in their current design should be banned," said Ivan Warmuth, the father of Allison Warmuth, who was killed on April 30, 2016, when a duck boat ran her over on her motor scooter.
Duck boats were originally used by the U.S. military in World War II to transport troops and supplies over land and water, most famously during the invasion of Normandy in 1944. They were later modified for use as sightseeing vehicles. There are now about 130 duck boats operating in more than a dozen U.S. cities, including Boston, Seattle, Miami, San Diego, Honolulu and Washington.
Critics say the 2½-ton amphibious passenger vehicles are inherently dangerous because their design creates numerous blind spots for drivers, who sit 10 to 12 feet behind the bow, making it difficult to see directly below and in front of them.
Allison Warmuth's parents have pushed the industry to adopt new safety measures. They successfully lobbied for a Massachusetts law that requires duck boats to have blind spot cameras and proximity sensors. The new law also requires a second employee — separate from the driver — to narrate the tours.