Report: Florida Leads Nation in Boating Accidents and Boating Death

One of the best places in the world to go boating is in Florida.  In fact, people come from all over the nation (and the world) to enjoy the Florida sun and shores.  One of the more popular activities in our area is boating, for that reason.  While boating can be a lot of fun, it can also be dangerous or even deadly.

According to a recent report from ABC Action News, Florida leads the nation in boating accidents and boating deaths.  The article first focuses on one recent accident. Four people were on a boat that was taking on water.  It was sinking a few miles off the Florida coast, and they had issued a mayday to the U.S Coast Guard.  Fortunately, for these four potential boating accident victims, the Coast Guard got to them in time, and all four were safely rescued.Rescue swimmers who jumped from their Jay Hawk helicopter secured them in a basket and pulled them up into the chopper one by one to save them. This was a 19-foot boat that was too small for the current conditions at that time, according to a spokesperson.

There is trend in our state where the number of boating deaths and serious boating accidents is increasing.  They are up nationwide, but our state is leading the alarming trend.  As data from these investigations show, many of these deaths are the result of victims not wearing a life vest.  In fact, in 83 percent of all drowning deaths, the victims were not wearing a life vest. As these numbers show, while you can still die while wearing a life vest, you are way more likely to not drown if you are wearing a vest.

As the data also shows, and our Fort Lauderdale boating accident lawyers have seen in many cases, alcohol is often a contributing factor in these accidents. Specifically, Coast Guard data shows that in 15 percent of boating deaths, alcohol was the major contributing factor.  This means that these victims would likely still be alive had it not been for a drunk boat operator.

Many people drink while operating a boat, because they don’t think they will crash like they can when drunk driving.  The truth is there are many ways to be seriously injured or killed on a boat that do not involve the boat crashing.  This is not to say a boat can’t crash, especially with a drunk operator, but we tend to see a lot of different reasons for serious cases of personal injury.

There are accidents involving water skiers or people being pulled behind the boat on some other type of floatation device, such as tube or raft.  If the driver is intoxicated and not acting careful with respect the person being towed, this can, and often does, result in serious injury or death.  We also have accidents where someone who falls off the boat is seriously injured or killed.  A person may be sitting on part of the boat that is not meant for riders when the boat is in motion, for example.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Despite warnings, Florida leads nation in boating accidents, June 12, 2017, By Adam Winer, ABC Action News

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Property Owner Liability for Dangerous Road Conditions, March 7, 2017, Personal Injury Lawyer Blog