Boaters have even more reason to be careful on the waterways that make the Sunshine State so beautiful and sometimes dangerous over the July 4 holiday weekend.
On April 26, we were all reminded of how quickly ships with big engines that weigh thousands of pounds can put people in danger. A scary scene was caught on home security video along a canal in Miami Beach: a big cabin cruiser lost control, hit a dock and another boat, and then flipped over. Surprisingly, no one on the boat or at the dock got hurt badly.
This weekend, the coasts and inland waterways are expected to be full of boaters. Chad Weber and other officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are checking to make sure people put safety first: kids under five have to wear life jackets. You must stay out of low-speed and no-wake zones. And fishing while drunk will be punished the same way drunk driving is.
Weber also said, “We don’t have an open container law, but if you’re going to drink alcohol while driving a boat, name someone else to drive it.” Another thing is that if you’re drunk on a boat, you might hurt someone else instead of yourself.
With 81 deaths, up 37%, 2024 was a very bad year for boating accidents in Florida. There were 399 injuries, which is 2% less than the previous year.
Every year, personal boats get faster and stronger, and the crashes last year were bad. All over the state, there were 149 of them. Twelve people died and 113 were hurt in those crashes.
Ady Showley showed us that her parents’ boat has the appropriate safety whistle and flotation devices for her and her younger sister at the Gilbert Park boat ramp in Mt. Dora, Lake County.
As Kevin and Sheena Showley say, they are very protective of their girls and see too many other people on Lake Dora who are not fishing safely. Kevin told them, “Not cool if you do donuts in the middle of the lake or spray people with your prop wash.” “Most of all the drinking,” Sheena said. You worry about that the most? These are my kids. Of course. I want to keep them safe. “I can’t change what other people do, but they can change how they act.”
Following the start of a new rule in Florida on Tuesday, this is the first holiday weekend. “Lucy’s Law” (HB 289) makes it more serious to leave the scene of an accident and to drive a boat recklessly.
She died in a boat crash in Miami in 2022, so the park is named after her. Thirteen more people were also on board. The captain was found guilty of a minor charge of reckless boating.
“Lucy’s Law” also says that someone who is caught boating while drunk must serve at least four years in jail if they leave the scene of an accident or don’t call the police.
The people who work for Fish and Wildlife hope that the new law doesn’t start this weekend.
