The Boston Herald
BOSTON — Never mind the ducklings . . . watch out for duck boats!
An out-of-control pink-polka-dotted duck boat chomped through a lane of cars in the Back Bay yesterday, the second accident involving amphibious vehicles this week in Boston.
“He just came out of nowhere,’' said Marjorie Ross, 60, of Springfield, who was stopped at a light just off Storrow Drive. “I heard the screeching and bumping. Then I looked at my rear-view mirror, and all I saw was polka dots.’'
The duck boat driver lost control when a part of the World War II-vintage amphibious vehicle slipped and fell behind the brake pedal, said Cindy Brown, general manager of Boston Duck Tours.
With 32 passengers on board, Dorchester Dottie careened down the exit ramp from Storrow Drive onto Charles Street, plowing into seven cars and sending five people to the hospital, before it rode up on the curb and came to rest before a big green highway sign. There were no serious injuries, police said.
Brown said all the other duck boats were inspected for the problem and are fine. The passengers were placed on another boat and continued the tour.
Ross’ daughter, who was still recovering from a July 7 surgery, was among those sent to the hospital with minor injuries, leaving her mother, a longtime Detroit native, stranded in a strange city with a dog, cat and several suitcases.
“I don’t know the city, and the one person I knew was gone,’' said Ross, who was assisted when Brown sent her in a cab to a car rental agency.
Boston Duck Tours also was involved in another crash Tuesday, when a car rushing to a wedding cut in front of a duck boat. No one was hurt in that crash.
In Philadelphia last week, two people were killed when a barge collided with a duck boat operated by a different company. Coast Guard officials and police in Boston have said they are satisfied with the safety of two local duck boat companies.
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