Travel Law News

As many of you are already aware, Hawaii has some of the best hiking trails in the entire world. Whether it is the 12 mile long unspoiled Na Pa Li coastline trail,the scenic Kuhilau trail on Kauai or the rainforest or volcanoe trails on the big island, Mauai and Oahu, Hawaii has it all in thei regard. However, there are guidelines you should consider to help ensure the best hiking experience possible. Before you go out, though, hop in your Nissan or whatever car you rented and get yourself some decent hiking shoes or boots from a local shops and put them on prior to going for hiking. You may hire a tour guide to take you around or you can rent a Nissan or other vehicle and explore Hawaii on your own.  You can go here if you wish to obtain a vehicle and find a Hawaii Nissan dealership. In some areas of the state, a Nissan is the best rental deal going. The peak hours at the day, in Hawaii, require special caution to protect you from the sun. You can either put on a hat or carry an umbrella for that. Putting on a light colored jacket will protect you against the harmful sun rays, throughout Hawaii, as well as keeping your body temperature normal. The most important of all is to bring a large amount of drinking water. The water from streams can be infected with bacteria and can cause fatal diseases. Timing is also a very important factor in arranging your activity in Hawaii. You should start you hiking activity in the morning when the sun just rises so that you have enough time to explore the beauty beside the track and come back in time. Hawaii is very close to the equator, therefore the area gets dark in short time in the evening when the sun goes down. You need to carry a torch light to lead you at night. While on the trail, if you encounter any emergency like injury, bad weather or it gets too late at night and you get stuck on the trail,911 is the number to call and ask for help. This is the service which has been made available in America as well as Hawaii for helping people in emergency. They will ask about your position and track you to reach there as soon as possible. Your colored dressing, whistle and flashlight will help the rescue workers to reach you. If the place, the person is in trouble is inaccessible by foot, helicopters will come to free him.  

One of the must-go places in Hawaii is the Na Pali Coast of Kauai. In Hawaiian local language,” Na Pali” means “cliffs”. Na Pali Coast is the name given to the cliffs, by Kauai people; those are considered to arise on the north shore of Kauai, Hawaii, 200 million years ago. For watching the most beautiful part of Hawaiian Islands, Na Pali Coast is the place to visit. it is simply some of the most breathtaking real estate on the planet. These cliffs have spanned a range of nearly 22-miles between the Kee Beach and the Polihale State Park in the northwestern shore of Kauai, Hawaii. After you land at the Lihue Airport, Kauai, the road to your right is the Kapule Highway which leads to the Kuhio Highway. To reach the Kee Beach where the Na Pali Coast begins, you need to arrive at the North Shore through the Coconut Cost by the Kuhio Highway.

Whether you are a nature photographer, hiker, or a family guy, you will love to visit the Na Pali Coast, Hawaii.  It really is some prime real estate. Taking pictures of stunning sunsets, deep valleys, and waterfalls tumbling down the cliffs will give the photographers the most exhilarating experience of their lives.

Boating, hiking, sight-seeing from helicopter and camping are the activities recommended by the guides to the tourists visiting the Na Pali Coast. Entering this place of extravagant beauty is not very easy because there is no road or highway which leads directly to it. The Na Pali coast can be explored in three ways. You can either hire a helicopter to have a bird’s-eye-view of the majestic cliffs and valleys in there, or you can take the services of a multihulled catamaran available at most places of Kauai. The third option is to go on foot by the Kalalau trail. By the way if you visit and love the place so much that you want to consider grabbing your very own piece of real estate, then may I suggest Sleeping Giant Realty as they are one of the best Kauai real estate firms on the island.

Hiring a helicopter will be a bit costly but how can you miss to have the ride of your life? Many services are available in Hawaii for the tourists to explore the Kauai beauty of Na Pali Coast. The helicopter will swoop down and rise up in the valleys and canyons. Watching the temple of Mount Waialeale, 5200 feet high along with the Kalalau Valley, sparkling waterfalls and thin cliffs among the hanging valleys from the hovering helicopter, are the memories you will not forget about the Na pali Coast, Hawaiian beauty. You can also make videos of these breathtaking moments.

According to reports by cruise ship accident lawyers, the FBI says a couple that was aboard a Carnival cruise ship has disappeared and presumed to have gone overboard, their names have not been released. The couple was reported to be a 90 year old man and his 79 year old wife.

The couple it has been reported left from Long Beach on Monday and when the ship docked on Friday they were no longer aboard the cruise ship. Investigators have stated the ships crew last saw the couple on Tuesday evening at approximately 7:45 p.m.

According to FBI spokes person Laura Eimiller the ship left Long Beach with 2,052 passengers and was in route to Santa Catalina Island and then to Ensenada Mexico. FBI investigators boarded the ship and were interviewing passengers after Carnaval Cruise Line contacted them when the couple was found to be missing. An evidence response team boarded the ship to collect evidence from the couples stateroom that was found to be double locked from the inside with a “do not disturb” sign on the doorknob. The couple’s personal belongings were found in the room and the door to the balcony unlocked.

According to Petty Officer 2nd Class of the Coast Guard Prentice Danner, the Coast Guard was conducting a search for the couple from Ensenada, Mexico to Catalina Island and then to Long Beach. The Petty Officer stated no boats would be used due to the expansive area that was to be searched for the couple.

The Coast Guard search has since been halted after searching with no results and they have alerted ships captains in the area to the missing couple.

In a statement by Carnival Cruise Line spokes person Jennifer de la Cruz they have no knowledge if the man and his wife had gotten off the cruise ship at either the Catalina or Ensenada stops.

January 1, 2009

According to reports the Coast Guard has stated a man employed as part of the entertainment on the Carnival cruise ship Sensation reportedly fell overboard in the waters off of Florida.

The man allegedly fell overboard at approximately 1:00 a.m. on Thursday and in a statement from the Carnival cruise company the man was not working at the time he fell overboard and was a part of the entertainment staff on the cruise ship. Carnival also stated that six other crew members saw the employee fall overboard and the crew members stated the man accidentally fell from the ship. At the time the crew members saw him fall they threw him a life ring and also notified the ships officials. Then the Coast Guard was alerted to the situation according to Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class James Harless.

Harless stated the man fell approximately 82 feet and the water was approximately 72 degrees. He also stated it is unclear if the man overboard was able to catch the life ring the crew members threw to him.

Carnival Cruise lines have also released a statement to the mans family and friends stating their thoughts and prayers are with him, his family and his friends.

The ship was approximately 20 miles from the coast of Vero Beach when the man fell from the ship, after a full day of searching he has not been found; searches were carried out on the water and by air. Harless of the Coast Guard stated they searched with a Coast Guard cutter, a smaller boat that was dispatched from Fort Pierce and a rescue helicopter.

The Carnival ship Sensation was in route from the Bahamas to Port Canaveral, the cruise ship was late returning and passengers stated the atmosphere today was solemn in light of the missing man. Carnival cruise ship accident attorneys are probably sharpening their swords to get this case.

December 28, 2008 (by Otto Smyth)

According to reports by Princess cruise ship accident lawyers, the Mexican Navy and the United States Coast Guard have been searching the waters off of Cancun for an American woman that reportedly fell from a Norwegian cruise ship.

The woman has been identified as Jennifer Feitz age 36 who was aboard the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship that left Miami for a seven day cruise to the western Caribbean. Feitz was reported missing by her husband before 5:00 a.m. Friday morning, when the ship was east of Isla Mujeres.

The Mexican Fifth Naval Regional Command stated they had been searching using navy boats and helicopters and had found no signs of the woman late Friday and had to halt their search due to difficult weather conditions and strong waves.

The United States Coast Guard was using a Falcon jet; they also halted their search until the next morning. They stated they will resume the search using a C-130 according to Petty Officer Third Class Nick Ameen. If you were injured in a cruise ship accident, call 888-400-9721 to speak with California cruise ship injury lawyers.

According to reports the search for Jennifer Feitz was taking place approximately 17 miles east of Cancun.

The Norwegian Cruise Line has made no public statement about Jennifer Feitz.

newspersonal injury attorney los angeles.

December 15, 2008 (by Michael Ehline, Esq.)

According to reports of boating accident lawyers in Los Angeles County, a distress call was received by the authorities from a 52 foot yacht named Giant Feet after it struck rocks in the vicinity of Coyote Point in the San Francisco Bay area.

The Coast Guard responded to the distress call where the yacht was found to be taking on water and rescued twenty-six people aboard the boat.

The rescue attempts by boat were unsuccessful as the yacht was in to shallow of water, by the Coast Guard and the local fire department. After the attempts failed a helicopter lowered a small life raft and rescue swimmers, who were able to get the twenty-six passengers off the 52 foot yacht.

The passengers were then transported to the San Mateo County Fire Department Incident Command Post that was located at Coyote Point Marina.  If you were seriously injured in a boating accident, contact the Law Offices of Michael Ehline at 888-400-9721.

What are your rights as a cruise ship passenger injured on a cruise? This is a question often asked by disillusioned passengers injured on cruise ship vacations.  There are numerous accidents that such as sexual assault that can happen on dry land, and the very same accidents can also occur when you and your family are traveling on a cruise ship.  Accidents such as objects falling, which can cause a person injury and slips and falls are common occurrences that can happen no matter where you are, on land or at sea.  A crime such as theft is something that can also happen aboard a cruise ship.  Not only is this a crime that is committed by passengers aboard the ship, but it is also something that is done by crewmembers.  One problem that occurs regularly on cruise ships that is becoming a big concern to the U.S. Attorney General’s office is the fact that out of every four crimes that are being reported in Miami on cruise ships, three of them are sexual offenses that involve girls that are under the age of 21.

Strict Liability

46 U.S.C. §1702(6).  Under Section 3(6) of the Shipping Act of 1984, it states that cruise ships that depart from a port in the United States are considered to be a common carrier of passengers.  It is generally expected that a common carrier should maintain the special duty to safely bring passengers to their destination and to also maintain care of the highest degree to ensure they are protected against physical harm.

(See New Jersey Steamboat Co. v. Brockett, 121 U.S. 637, 645-646 (1887); Restatement (Second) of Torts §314A (1965).)  The special relationship between a carrier and its passengers involves one person entrusting himself to another’s protection and care. (See Holland America Cruises, Inc. v. Underwood, 470 So.2d 19, 20 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App. 1985) (finding that common carrier has a duty to protect passengers from criminal attack.)) A cruise ship’s duty of safe transportation includes protection of the passenger from crew members’ rapes, molestations, and assaults. M.J. Norris, The Law of Maritime Personal Injuries, §3:3, at 62-63; §3:12, at 78 (4th ed. 1990).

In 1887 the Supreme Court made their first address on crewmembers assaults against passengers.  The ship’s watchman used excessive force removing a passenger from an area on the ship that was restricted in the New Jersey Steamboat case.  A passenger is entitled to being protected by the misconduct or negligence of the carrier’s servants’ by virtue of a contract for safe transportation, and the Court recognized this.  Because of the fact that the carrier relies upon the servants’ to perform the contract of transportation for the passengers, the misconduct or negligence of the servants’ would be the liability or responsibility of the ship.  Basing its findings on public policy and precedent found from railroad cases, the Court stated that it is the responsibility of a common carrier to protect its passengers from any misconduct committed by its own servant’s during the course of their employment.  Several years later the Supreme Court reaffirmed Brockett in New Orleans & N.E. R.R. Co. v. Jopes, 142 U.S. 18 (1891).  Although Jopes involved a passenger being shot by a conductor, the Court applied Brockett and further defined the common carrier liability rule.  The Court stated in Jopes that carriers are bound to make sure that passengers are protected from its own servants assaulting or injuring passengers.  Jopes expanded Brockett by removing the required employee act within the duration of his employment and held liability strictly on the carrier for acts made against passengers by its employees.  It is true that Jopes did not involve a passenger ship, but it involved a train instead, however the Court seen no difference between the modes of transportation because in both of these cases common carriers were involved.  In Morton v. De Oliveira, 984 F.2d 289 (9th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom., Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Morton, 510U.S.907 (1993), where a passenger stated that she was raped by one of the crew members while in her cabin, the issue of passengers being assaulted by crew members was reviewed by the Ninth Circuit based on the usual “reasonable care under the circumstances” standard and the ship was held liable.

Personal Injury Case - Reasonable Care Standard

The court recognized first, in the context of a slip-and-fall accident of a crew member being visited by a man while on board a vessel that is docked at a pier, that duty falls on the ship owner of “reasonable care under the circumstances” towards individuals that are lawfully on board the vessel.  (Kermarec v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, 358 U.S. 625, 79 S.Ct. 406, 3 L.Ed.2d 550 (1959).)  In support of this particular conclusion, the Court cited admiralty cases that deal with personal injury aboard a vessel.  The issue was whether invitee-licensee distinctions as they were in common law, were recognized in admiralty.  It was found that these distinctions were brought about from legal concepts that were completely different than the law of the sea.  In conclusion, the Court found that it only made sense to take away distinctions that was based on the plaintiff being licensee or an invitee and a general standard of reasonable care should be applied.  In referencing personal injury cases that were shipboard and that involved non-crew members, the Court supported its conclusions.  In the First, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits, Kermarec is interpreted as creating a negligence standard of “reasonable care under the circumstances” for cases that were of personal injury, and retained Brockett’s stronger standards for misconduct towards passengers by a crew member.

Venue Selection Clauses

There is a forum selection clause on most cruise passenger tickets that can usually be found on the back of the ticket in microscopic type.  Because they normally control the venue in a case as well as the controlling law, careful attention must be paid to the clauses.  A California Court is generally designated when cruises depart from a California port such as Long Beach and San Francisco therefore, California law and 9th Circuit law control.  Cruise lines that are Miami-based will normally specify Miami as the venue.

Even though they frequently fail, objections can be made to the enforcement of the venue selection clause.  Before being overruled by the Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit did hold that, it was held by the Ninth Circuit that like other contracts of adhesion with non-negotiated terms, cruise line tickets with forum selection clauses are not enforceable. (Shute v. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc., 899 F.2d 377, 388 (9th Cir. 1990).) The U. S. Supreme Court disagreed. (Shute, 499 U.S. 585.  The U. S. Supreme Court disagreed. Shute, 499 U.S. 585.)  The Court held by extending the analysis of “reasonableness”, that there are two different reasons why a non-negotiated forum selection clause might be reasonable in the cruise line business.  1.  “[b]ecause a cruise ship typically carries passengers from many locales, it is not unlikely that a mishap on a cruise could subject the cruise line to litigation in several different fora. …” 2. A forum selection clause would save the parties and the courts time and money by eliminating venue motions and would benefit passengers by reduced fares “reflecting the savings that the cruise line enjoys by limiting the fora in which it may be sued.” Intentional torts by a crew member is one claim that can be made and it lies outside the Court’s primary rationale because only an alleged intentional act is involved, and not one of a “mishap”.  In Johnson v. Commodore Cruise Lines, supra, it drew this distinction, where cruise ship tickets were limited another exceptional protection adhesion clause, which is a provision of a shortened time-to-sue for bodily injury suits as authorized by 46 U.S.C. §183b.  Based on an alleged conspiracy to conceal a rape by a crewmember, plaintiffs sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress and other wrongs.  Under the law of Mississippi, where plaintiffs bought their tickets, the contractual limitations period was much shorter than what was provided in this law. 

Rejecting this defense, the court wrote:

“Congressional concern in enacting the statutes in which § 183b was a part was to limit the liability of a shipowner for events arising in the general course of shipping and navigation. [Citation.] There is no suggestion in either the language of the statutes or in their legislative history of any intention to limit the liability of a shipowner for the affirmative misconduct or its mismanagement toward passengers. Accordingly, we find that § 183b does not preempt Mississippi’s prohibition against contractually shortening limitations periods and, therefore, that the six-month time-to-sue provision in plaintiffs’ tickets is invalid.Id., at 745.

Finally, plaintiff may assert that defendant’s forum selection clause was unfair as applied to plaintiff because he/she had no opportunity to reject the clause without financial forfeiture. A forum selection clause may be unreasonable as applied to a passenger who does not learn of it until after the ticket is purchased and lacks opportunity to reject the contract without a penalty. Under these circumstances, the clause may be deemed unreasonable as to the plaintiff. (See, Corna v. American Hawaii Cruises, Inc., 794 F. Supp. 1005, 1011-1012 (D. Haw. 1992) (clause not enforced); Kalman v. Cunard Line, Ltd., 904 F. Supp. 1150 (D. Haw. 1995) motion to dismiss denied pending resolution of disputed facts); cf. Cross v. Kloster Cruise Lines, Ltd. 897 F. Supp. 1304 (D. Or. 1995) (10 days’ notice, $400 penalty, clause enforced).)

This means what are your rights as a cruise ship passenger injured on a cruise will depend in large part what jurisdiction the case will be filed in.  Princess cruise ship rape cases must typically be filed in Los Angeles County, California and requires Los Angeles cruise ship accident attorneys, and that Royal Caribbean cases must typically be filed in Florida.

BREAKING NEWS:

Denise Tyrell, a Metorlink spokes person woman, who almost immediately announced that a train operator caused the September 12, 2008 Metrolink accident in Chatsowrth, resigned because she though she would be fired for telling the “truth”.  According to Tyrell, her supervisiors gave the appearance that they would fire her for telling the truth about the deadliest Metrolink accident in California history. The National Safety Transportation Board announced on Sunday that it was indeed an engineer’s mistake which lead to the deadly train crash just north of Los Angeles.

Federal and state investigators are now investigating whether or not the train engineer was sending text messages to teens, instead of paying attention to train signals, causing the train crash.

Crew Member Arrested For Sexual Assault

August 26, 2008 (by Otto Smyth)

According to reports by cruise ship rape lawyers, a crew member aboard a cruise ship has been arrested near Juneau Alaska after allegedly sexually assaulting another crew member.

The crew member who was assaulted reported the sexual assault by another foreigner working on a cruise ship M/V Serenade of the Seas(Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines), when the ship arrived at port in Juneau at approximately 9:30 the crew member allegedly sexually assaulted a female crewmember in her cabin. The Turk, Serkan Tezsay, was taken into custody and transported to Lemon Creek Correctional Center.

The Lemon Creek Correctional Center is located in Juneau and is a multi function correctional institute, with the capacity to hold 164 male and female inmates.

If you have been the victim of a Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines employee cruise ship sexual assault such as cruise ship gang rape, anal rape, or oral rape, there are experienced California, Orange County and Los Angeles cruise ship attorneys who can be reached at 888-400-9721.

According to a report released by the U.S. State Department, each year nearly 50,000 victims fall prey to a drug commonly known as the Date Rape Drug. The proper name for this drug is Scopolamine. Many cruise ship rape attorneys suspect this date rape drug is commonly used in cruise ship rapes.

The Date Rape Drug that is typically used in many rapes causes the victim to be in a state of compliance or a zombie like state during the act of rape and then later the victim has no memory of it happening at all. It is an established fact that victims of rape avoid reporting the crime to the police in about 84% of actual rape cases. According to statistics, there are about 400 sexual assaults committed yearly on cruise ship lines. That is the reported cases.

With the introduction of the date rape drug, the non-reported rapes on cruise ships could be much higher than statistics have shown. It is suspected that crew gang rapes are happening to victims with the use of the date rape drug. The victim does not recall it ever happening because of this date rape drug.

Cruise ship date rape attorneys have identified the fact that victims are usually drugged through beverages and could later be raped in cabins or they are taken to other parts of the ships, like storage closets, or janitor rooms, and raped. This drug comes in many forms.

It can be sprinkled into food or sprinkled onto chewing gum, blown into the face of a person, dropped into the bodice of a woman’s dress or blouse or even put on the collar of a shirt. Just a few grains of the drug can bring about dramatic results. The only sign you may have been drugged afterward is a severe headache that last for a few days.

If you ever suspect that you have been the victim of this date rape drug and raped while onboard a cruise ship line do not hesitate reporting your suspicions to the ships doctor. Do so immediately. Insist a full report is made with all facts recorded for your own protection later on. Also insist that the ships doctor do a rape kit examination. If the ship doctor is not willing to test for this, have one done off the ship as soon as you reach a port of call. Do not shower or bath until this rape test is done.

They will be looking for DNA from others on your person. You may have to wait till you return home to have this test done.
If you have any bruises, cuts or scrapes, take pictures of them to show to the authorities if need be. As soon as possible, contact one of the experienced cruise ship rape attorneys in to bring suit against the cruise line for negligence. If you were raped on a cruise liner, call 888-400-9721.