Ride the Ducks |
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Official Site: BransonDucks.com
Wikipedia: Ride the Ducks Page Sections History Article Index |
History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Ride the Ducks page on 6 August 2020, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Ride the Ducks was a national duck tour operator and eponymous tourist attraction in some parts of the United States. It made use of amphibious vehicles, nicknamed "ducks", to provide tours of cities by boat and by land.
Ride the Ducks was purchased by Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation in 2004. Herschend sold a majority interest in the company to an independent investor in 2012. The Branson operation was sold to Ripley Entertainment in December 2017. In 2019 Ripley announced that Ride The Ducks in Branson would be permanently closed and replaced with another attraction due to the July 2018 accident on Table Rock Lake where 17 people drowned.
The company used custom built amphibious vehicles based on the DUKW amphibious vehicle design from World War II known as "truck ducks", while some used an original DUKW chassis extended to fit them, known as "stretch ducks". The company also used original DUKWs extended to hold more people, and as such are also "stretch ducks". All incorporated advances in marine design and safety. Drivers were certified by the Coast Guard and hold commercial drivers' licenses, and all vehicles were equipped with personal flotation devices. The company has also manufactured vehicles for other duck tour operators.
| Date | Article | Author/Source |
|---|---|---|
| 6 December 2016 | U.S. DOT issues consent order and fines up to $1 million to Ride the Ducks International, LLC | NHTSA |
| 16 August 2017 | Ride the Ducks International, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance | Federal Register: NHTSA (Jeffrey M. Giuseppe) |
| 16 August 2017 | Ride the Ducks International, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance | Federal Register: NHTSA (Jeffrey M. Giuseppe) |
| 15 September 2017 | Ride the Ducks International, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance | Federal Register: NHTSA (Jeffrey M. Giuseppe) |
| 20 July 2018 | 17 Dead as Tourist Boat Flips Over Near Branson, Missouri | Arya Hodjat, VOA News |
| 21 October 2021 | Ride the Ducks International, LLC, Denial of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance Ride the Ducks International has determined that certain model year 1996-2014 Ride the Ducks International Stretch Amphibious passenger vehicles do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 103, Windshield Defrosting and Defogging Systems. | Federal Register Notice  (text)Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Byline: Joseph Kolly Topic: Ride the Ducks |
| 21 October 2021 | Ride the Ducks International, LLC, Denial of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance Ride the Ducks International has determined that certain model year 1996-2014 Ride the Ducks International Stretch Amphibious passenger vehicles do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 104, Windshield Wiping and Washing Systems. | Federal Register Notice (text) Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Byline: Joseph Kolly Topic: Ride the Ducks |
| 21 October 2021 | Ride the Ducks International, LLC, Denial of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance Ride the Ducks International has determined that certain model year 1996-2014 RTDI Stretch Amphibious passenger vehicles do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 113, Hood Latch System, and FMVSS No. 302, Flammability of Interior Materials. | Federal Register Notice (text) Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Byline: Joseph Kolly Topic: Ride the Ducks |