Wrongful death lawsuit against Coast Guard for dike allision fails on appeal

Edward Barnett crashed his boat into a dike while navigating the Cooper River at night, resulting in his death and that of a coworker. Mr. Barnett's wife filed suit against the United States alleging the U.S. Coast Guard was responsible for the casualty because it failed to properly light the dike.

The case was tried before the bench. After a three-day trial, the judge ruled in favor of the Coast Guard. The Fourth Circuit affirmed the decision on appeal for the following reasons.

The evidence showed that the dike was marked by multiple warning lights, including amber lights on the dike and green navigational aids marking the channel. One amber light on the dike closest to shore was not functioning at the time of the crash. Barnett was traveling at high speed, had exited the marked navigable channel, was not using his chart plotter, and had not posted a lookout.

The Coast Guard has broad discretion in establishing and modifying navigational aids, protected by the discretionary function exception. No statute or regulation mandates specific brightness or flash sequences. Once aids are established, the Coast Guard's duty is limited to maintaining them in working order and not misleading boaters. The Fourth Circuit found the Coast Guard had no duty to update or improve functioning aids.

The non-functioning amber light was the furthest from the channel and would not have induced reliance or misled boaters, given the other functioning lights.

Barnett's own actions in exiting the channel, speeding, and failing to use available safety measures were the sole proximate cause of the crash, regardless of the lighting conditions.

Key takeaways from the decision include:

• The Coast Guard's decisions regarding brightness, flash sequence, and general perceptibility of navigational aids are protected by the discretionary function exception to the Suits in Admiralty Act.

  
  

• The Coast Guard has a duty to repair non-functioning navigational aids and not to mislead boaters, but does not have a duty to alter or update functioning aids.\

  
  

• The Coast Guard did not breach its duty by failing to repair one non-functioning amber light on the dike, as the other lights were working and did not mislead boaters.

  
  

• The Fourth Circuit affirmed the trial judge's factual finding that the sole proximate cause of the boat crash was the negligence of the boat operator, not any action or inaction by the Coast Guard.

A copy of the decision can be found through the link below.

Barnett v. United States.pdf

Download PDF • 7.73MB

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Adam Davis Law Firm