Driver of Duck Boat in Deadly Boston Accident Has 10 Speeding Tickets
On Saturday, April 30, a 29-year-old woman was killed when her scooter was crushed under a duck boat tour vehicle in Boston. The accident occurred around 11:30 a.m. at the intersection of Beacon and Charles streets in Beacon Hill. A passenger on the scooter was also injured and hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, while none of the duck boat’s 25-plus occupants sustained injuries.
According to reports from The Boston Globe and others, Allison Warmuth was an insurance underwriter who was crushed under the duck boat when the duck boat’s operator, Victor Tavares, accelerated at a green light. Allison Warmuth was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.
On Monday, the Globe released a report revealing that Tavares has a lengthy history of driving violations over the past two decades. Tavares has received 10 speeding citations, two “failure to use safety” citations and a citation for a “right of way at intersection” offense, per the Globe. In 2013 he was determined to be at fault for an accident and was required to take a safety class the following year because he had at least five citations.
Bob Schwartz, president of Boston Duck Tours, told the Boston Herald that this is the first fatal accident involving one of his drivers since his company opened in 1994. He said that Tavares has been with Boston Duck Tours for seven or eight years, and called him “very experienced.”
Unfortunately, duck boat-related tragedies are not altogether uncommon. In September of 2015, a duck boat in Seattle, WA, crashed into an SUV and a charter bus, killing five and injuring 50 additional passengers. In July 2010, a duck boat on the Delaware River was rammed by a sludge barge, killing two and injuring nearly 20 more. That case resulted in a $17 million settlement after wrongful death lawsuits were filed against K-Sea Transportation and Ride the Ducks. In October of 2011, a motorcyclist was critically injured when another Seattle Ride the Ducks vehicle hit and dragged him at a red light. And in September 2013, a duck boat on the River Thames in London caught fire, causing 30 people to need rescue.
