OLYMPIA — A Seattle tour company involved in a deadly crash in September can resume operating a limited fleet of amphibious vehicles but must gain approval of a safety plan by the end of next month or else risk being put out of business, according to a decision Monday by state regulators.
After a three-hour hearing, the three-member Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission approved a joint stipulation that allows the company to resume operations of its “Truck Duck” vehicles. “Truck Duck” vehicles have a different manufacturer, chassis and axle system than the “stretch duck” vehicle involved in the Sept. 24 accident in which five international college students were killed when the repurposed military “duck boat” swerved into an oncoming charter bus on the Aurora Bridge, a six-lane span with no median barrier. The company’s operations were suspended by the commission days after the accident, and the stretch ducks are still barred from the road.
Ride the Ducks of Seattle owner Brian Tracey told the commission that he doesn’t have a time frame on when the 10 vehicles could be on the road, saying that drivers will need to be retrained and he wants to “make sure everything we’re doing is perfectly buttoned down before we’re up and running again.”
Under the deal, the company must submit a safety plan and have it approved by Jan. 29. If the plan is accepted, the company’s safety rating will be upgraded from “unsatisfactory” to conditional, contingent on follow-up investigations. If they fail to provide an adequate plan, they will be put out of service and prohibited from operation, said David Pratt, the commission’s assistant director for transportation safety.
