MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Ride the Ducks ready to go back on the road, but not yet cleared to tour

Oct 13, 2015, 7:03 PM | Updated: Oct 14, 2015, 5:25 am

The Seattle tour company steeped in investigations following a fatal accident, has a plan for when ...

The Seattle tour company steeped in investigations following a fatal accident, has a plan for when its vehicles hit the road again. (SounderBruce/Flickr)

(SounderBruce/Flickr)

Seattle’s Ride the Ducks may be down, but owners aren’t ready to be out.

The Seattle tour company released a statement that said while the business remains shut down during state and federal investigations, it assumes it will be cleared to operate again.

Ride the Ducks runs tours with former military vehicles that travel on the road and in local waterways around Seattle.

The company has been under investigation since a crash on the Aurora Bridge killed five people, and injured more than 50 others. The tour vehicle collided with a charter bus carrying foreign students.

Related: Aurora Bridge crash has ‘new’ aspects for safety board team to study

“While the National Transportation Safety Board’s report on the cause of the accident is not yet compete, we have no indication that driver inattentiveness was involved, nor has it been linked to previous accidents or issues,” the company states.

“Nonetheless, we have decided that once our fleet is cleared for return to service, we will staff each Duck vehicle with two team members. One team member will drive the duck vehicle on the road, focusing solely on safely navigating the vehicle, while the second will serve as tour guide and entertainer for our gusts,” it further states.

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Ride the Ducks ready to go back on the road, but not yet cleared to tour