Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

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.

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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" »