Fatal boating incident with alleged overloaded 34' Silverton

There are so many laws and regulations on the books that we take the attitude 'if it's not illegal then it's OK'. There is no good reason that all recreational vessels shouldn't have a capacity rating, but except that the manufacturers know it will hurt sales. You're correct that there will be lawsuits, but the attorney's will have their hands full proving any sort of case. Any suits will be nuisance suits looking for a settlement. It'll remain legal to put as many people on a boat as you have PFDs for, and any captain who walks away will simply see a less experienced captain take his job.

And we have to comply when exporting. That's why it makes no sense not to carry it into domestic sales. The work has already been done. There's only one thing keeping a capacity placard from being put on boats domestically.

DITTO for Australia.
NYCAP's point that the US boats have to show these laws by having stickers literally ALL over the boats exported is ironic when they don't apply in the US.
This is news to me.

I hope I don't get harpooned for sticking my nose in....

In NYS we have two seperate, but concurrent branches of liability: Criminal and Civil. An individual can be liable at both levels, one or none.

Criminal liabilty results from statue, and describes the responsibilty of the citzen to the state or community to act in a certain fashion (eg speeding - murder) It is based up the community's determination as to what conduct a citzen is responsible for as a member. It can result in fines, incarceration, or death. Not all communities have the same criminal standards. Rape in some countries is not considered a crime. 80 mph is not speeding in some parts of Arizona.

A criminal case is concluded by either an outright dismissal, plea bargain between the community and the individual, or conviction at trial

If a prosecutor finds that there is a basis for criminal liabilty, he or she is obligated to bring that case unless there is a communty interest not to ( eg self defense, speeding to the hospital.) In this case, the prosecutor found that there was no statue that was violated by any individual aboard that boat - if the prosecutor found that the operator were intoxicated, for instance, she would certainly have brought a criminal case.

Civil liability is the responsibility of one citizen of the community to another, and can result in $ damages, restitution, etc if liabilty is found.

In NYS, a harmed citizen (Plaintiff) can allege liability against a vast array of other people (civil defendants) if he/she can show that some act or inaction on the part of another person (the defendant(s)) either individually or collectively, contributed to bringing about his/her injury. In this case, the passengers (or their survivors) may assert that the boat operator was negligent in his operation of the boat and failed to anticipate the following wakes; they might argue that the boat owner was negligent in allowing so many people aboard, and that act caused the injuries; they may allege that Silverton knew or should have known it's boat design was flawed in some way and should not have allowed the boat to market, and that act caused their injuries. The plaintiffs can make these allegations against the defendand(s) separately (individual liabaility), or as a group (joint liabilty), but they must show a real connection between the act or inaction and their injury.

A civil case is concluded by dismissal, settlement between the parties, or conviction at trial

I use these arguments for illustrative purposes, and not as an exhaustive legal analysis. I am not a trial attorney - only trying to help us all get a better understanding,that's all. Thanks

Seems that you forgot about OJ's civil trial, after his criminal trial.

Again, didn't say some ambulance chaser couldn't get a case filed, but I doubt these folks would be seen in the same light as O.J.

A dead relative is a dead relative.