A King County judge denied a motion from the city of Seattle looking to escape responsibility for the deadly 2015 Duck Boat Crash on the Aurora Avenue Bridge.
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. That crash killed five people and injured dozens more.
Since that day the court battle has been intense, and still, no one has taken the blame for what happened. On Friday, there was a bit of a twist when two governments faced off against each other in court.
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.
