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Seattle settles 12 lawsuits from Ride the Ducks crash

12 victims of 2015's deadly duck boat crash settled with the city of Seattle.
On Sept. 24, 2015, a Ride The Ducks vehicle collided with a tour bus on the Aurora Bridge.

The city of Seattle has settled 12 lawsuits with victims of the 2015 duck boat crash on the Aurora Avenue Bridge.

The city will pay victims more than $2.3 million.

It's been nearly three years since a Ride the Ducks boat crashed into a tour bus filled with college students on the Aurora Avenue Bridge. The crash killed five people and injured dozens more.

Last month, a King County judge denied a motion from the city of Seattle looking to escape responsibility for the crash.

Related l 'Ducks' driver had concerns about boat before accident

Related l NTSB: Mechanical failure, lack of federal oversight factored in Aurora Bridge crash

The city of Seattle argued that the State of Washington is responsible for putting a median barrier on the high traffic bridge. That barrier may have helped prevent the crash.

The state and the city both operate the bridge. The state owns the structure itself, and the city typically does traffic control work from the asphalt up. The city brought a motion against the state hoping the judge would find that the state is the only group responsible for putting a median barrier on the bridge. The judge denied the motion.

Because of the ruling, everything moves forward in advance of an October trial with the duck boat companies, state, and city all possibly facing some blame for what happened that day.

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