This year has seen a 19% spike in boating accidents from last year which had been the highest in a decade. This has state officials worried and searching for answers to stem the tide. During the first six months this year, 38 people died in Florida boating accidents, compared to 32 through the first six months of 2005. In all, 80 people died in Florida boating mishaps last year.
The increase in boating mishaps is partly blamed on the fact that there are more than 1million vessels registered in the state of Florida.
Maritime Law
Boating Fatalities on Increase in Florida
While the rest of the country is seeing fatalities on the water decrease, Florida is experiencing a sharp increase in such deaths. In 2005 alone, the state has recorded 71 boating deaths. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife officials, the number one cause of the increase is carelessness on the water. Boating is a recreation that many of us in Florida enjoy. However, we need to be just as cautious on the water as we would be on the highway. For instance, there’s a lot written about the dangers of drinking and driving yet very often we forget to think about the potential deadly consequences of boating and drinking-and I’m not just talking about the operator of the boat. Passengers need to moderate their intake of alcohol as well.
Boating Accident Deaths Not Highest In Florida?
After Tampa’s Gasparilla’s Pirate Festival Floatilla in Hillsborough Bay last week, you would think that Florida (and maybe even Tampa) might be a strong contender for Boat Accident Death capitol of the United States. But thanks to an enlightening post by fellow Maritime Lawyer and Blogger Rodd Sullivan in Jacksonville, we learn that a state far from here and with a very different climate beats us out for most boating accidents in the U.S.