Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Just a day before starting his senior year of high school, Tamarac teen Randolph Bieszczak died in a boat accident on the C-14 canal in Coral Springs. The accident took place on Sunday, August 21, 2011, when Bieszczak and his friend Nicholas Messier were on a tube being towed by a 17-foot motorboat. The tube they were riding on crashed into rocks close to the shore, killing Bieszczak and injuring Messier. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is currently investigating the accident.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 389 people were injured in Florida boat accidents in 2010. The most common type of injury was laceration, which is the type of injury that Messier suffered in the above boating accident.

As Coral Springs boat accident lawyers, we help people who have been victims of the negligence of boat drivers in Florida. In the particular case noted at the start of this post, it's hard to imagine there was not at least some negligence on the part of the boat driver. If the boat is insured, there could be an action against the driver and owner of the boat. The boat is also considered a dangerous instrumentality under Florida law, which may create liability upon the owner even if the owner was not in the boat at the time and even if the owner was not negligent.

Continue reading "Coral Springs Boat Accident Kills Tamarac Teen" »

Riding a jet ski can be one of life's most exhilarating experiences, if practiced safely. However, as highlighted recently by the jet ski accident of Miami-born singer Sean Kingston, riding a personal watercraft can lead to a crash resulting in personal injuries.

On Memorial Day weekend of 2011, Kingston and his passenger crashed into Miami's Palm Island Bridge and were ejected from the jet ski into the water. Kingston suffered injuries including a fractured wrist and a broken jaw.

According to U.S. Coast Guard statistics, personal watercrafts accounted for 20 percent of reported boating accidents nationwide in 2010. There were 1,221 accidents and 38 deaths involving personal watercrafts in the U.S. in 2010.

The following are some safety tips to steer clear of a jet ski accident:

• Make sure you are familiar with the operator safety manual and understand how to operate the watercraft before riding.
• Be mindful of your surroundings. Keep away from boats, other vessels, and swimmers in order to avoid an accident.
• Never stand on the jet ski while it's in motion.

For more jet ski safety tips, click here

Continue reading "Coral Springs Injury Lawyer Offers Jet Ski Safety Tips" »

A boating accident earlier this year, which caused a teenage girl from Palm Beach County to lose a leg, has resulted in the arrest of two teenage boys. 14-year-old Gabby DeSouza's right leg was struck by the propeller of the boat operated by the two boys, who fled the scene of the accident. Criminal charges have since been brought against the boys in connection to the accident.

According the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Palm Beach County ranked 3rd out of 10 Florida counties with the most boating injuries in 2010. Last year there were 18 accidents with injuries and 6 deadly accidents in Palm Beach County. Miami-Dade County was 2nd, with 28 accidents with injuries and 3 fatal accidents. Broward County was 6th, with 6 accidents resulting in injuries and 3 deadly accidents.

There were a total of 389 injuries resulting from boating accidents in 2010 in Florida. Injuries ranged from lacerations and broken bones, which were the most common incidents, to neck injuries and amputations.

Florida boating regulations restrict any person under the age of 14 from operating a personal watercraft. In order to operate a boat in Florida, a person is required to pass a written safety test online or by attending a classroom course, which must be authorized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. Boat operators must have their Boating Safety Education ID card and picture ID while boating.

The U.S. Coast Guard offers valuable safety information on its website, including boating regulations as well as information on boating safety courses and carbon monoxide dangers.

Continue reading "Coral Springs Boat Accident Lawyer on Accident that Injured Palm Beach County Teen" »

Spring is upon is in South Florida, which means more tourists, busier roadways and the start of boating season. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's (FWC) latest statistics, there were 982,470 registered vessels in Florida in 2009 - over 45,000 of which are registered in Broward County.

Of the top 10 counties in Florida with the most boating accidents in 2009, Broward County ranked number 5, with 30 accidents and 12 injuries. Palm Beach County ranked number 3, with 56 accidents, 21 injuries and 3 fatalities. Miami-Dade County ranked number 2, with 62 accidents, 52 injuries and 4 fatalities.

Fort Lauderdale - also known as the boating and yachting capital of the world - is home to thousands of boats and yachts. As our waterways start to attract more spring breakers, boating enthusiasts and locals, it is important to remember boating safety. While many Florida boating accidents are caused by inattentive or inexperienced drivers, many boating accidents are alcohol or drug-related as well. Boating Under the Influence - or BUI - is a serious crime which puts not only the boat driver and their passengers' lives at risk, but other people's lives as well.

A BUI is similar to a DUI in that the arrested person would have a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher (0.02 for boat drivers under 21) and their boat will be impounded, just as a person's car is impounded when they are arrested for a DUI. According to the FWC, alcohol or drug use account for 18.5 percent of boating-related deaths.

Continue reading "Boating Under the Influence (BUI) in Florida " »

Millions of people visit Florida each year for its theme parks, beaches and water sports. Parasailing is one of the most popular water sports that families partake in when they visit Florida cities such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Although parasailing accidents are a rarity in the news, injuries and deaths resulting from parasailing accidents do happen. The website parasail.org offers consumer information and parasailing accident reports.

On June 7th, 2010, a Chicago father and his 6-year-old daughter were injured in a parasailing accident in Miami. The accident happened when the boat towing the parasail lost power. The boat captain decided to cut the rope so that the father and daughter would avoid a collision with port cranes. After landing in the water, the two were dragged and eventually hit a seawall in the Port of Miami when the wind re-opened the parasail. The father and daughter were taken to the hospital and released the next day.

Luckily, the father and daughter from Chicago survived their parasailing accident. However, fatal parasailing accidents have occurred in Florida. In 2007, a deadly parasailing accident in Pompano Beach claimed the life of a 15-year-old girl and injured her sister when the girls crashed onto the roof of a building. Strong winds caused the parasail to spin until the rope that was attached to the boat snapped, leaving the young women helplessly flying through the air. The National Weather Service had issued a thunderstorm warning shortly before the girls' parasailing trip, but the boat captain proceeded to conduct rides despite such warnings.

Unfortunately, parasailing is currently unregulated by state and federal governments. Parasailing operators are not regulated by either the Coast Guard or the Department of Labor. The National Foundation for Parasail Regulations (NFPR) was started in an effort to establish mandatory operating guidelines. Some of these guidelines include monitoring weather warnings and operating at safe wind speeds. NFPR's goal is to get state and federal authorities to enforce safety guidelines in order to reduce accidents and hopefully avoid deaths resulting from this activity. Furthermore, The Amber May Law, named after the aforementioned young woman who was killed in a Pompano Beach parasailing accident, aims to establish guidelines and standards for the parasailing industry. The proposed law has not yet gone into effect.

Continue reading "Unregulated Industry: Miami Parasailing Accident Raises Questions about Parasailing Safety " »

A Davie, Florida, man's leg was severed recently in an airboat accident that occurred in the remote western swamps of Miami-Dade County.  According to reports, three Davie residents occupied a homemade airboat when it collided with another vessel that was occupied by residents of Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, and Davie.  Although the boat crash is still under investigation, it is believed that the man's leg was severed after he fell into the propeller.  The man was airlifted by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, along with the other two occupants of the airboat, to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard's Recreational Boating Statistics 2008, collision with another vessel ranks first among all boating accidents with 1237 incidents, 856 injuries, and 60 deaths for the year.  The leading cause of boating accidents is careless or reckless operation of the vessel.  Airboat accidents represent only a small percentage of the total recreational boating accidents with 2 reported drowning deaths attributed to airboat operation and 25 injuries.  In Florida, there were 616 total boating accidents with 55 fatalities and 371 injured people in 2008.

Continue reading "Davie, Florida Man Severs Leg in Airboat Accident" »

In a tragic accident, three children died this weekend after a boating accident in which their vessel capsized on Lake George in Ocala, Florida.  According to reports, the boat overturned on Sunday evening after a thunderstorm created three to four foot waves that broke over the boat and flooded the 20-foot Sea Ray. 

According to a report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Florida leads the nation in the number of registered vessels with over one million. Unfortunately, Florida also leads the nation in number of boating accidents, injuries, and deaths.  According to the report, there were 657 boat accidents which resulted in 54 deaths in 2008.  The leading cause of death in boating accidents is drowning after falling overboard.  Broward County, Miami-Dade County, and Palm Beach County all rank in the top five of Florida counties with the highest boat accident incident rates.

The FWC also reports that 72% of all boat operators involved in a boat accident in Florida have no formal boater education.  This fact, coupled with statistics that most boat accidents occur because of a collision with another vessel and operator inattention, means that far too many preventable deaths and injuries are occurring because of the negligence of other boaters.  To combat this problem, the FWC provides a number of online and on-site boater safety and operational education courses.

Continue reading "Three Florida Children Dead After Boat Accident" »