Articles Posted in Boating Accident

Local 10 News in Miami, Florida has reported that over the Memorial day holiday weekend local pop star Sean Kingston and a passenger were riding on a jet ski when the watercraft crashed into the bridge that connects Miami’s Palm Island to the MacArthur Causeway. Both were rushed to the Jackson Memorial Hospital where Kingston remains, while the passenger has been discharged, The cause of the accident is still under investigation by authorities.

In 2009 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee released a Boating Accidents Statistical Report which ranked, Florida #1 for reported boating accidents in 2008. The total that year was 657 reported accidents. The good news is that this number represents a decline that has bee steady year after year since 2000.

n Miami and surrounding areas, watercraft use is extremely popular, especially around holiday weekends. Unfortunately boating and watercraft accident are far too common. Many due to boating under the influence and other negligent acts of watercraft operators. The damages that result from these accidents are often significant.
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On Thursday November 18, 2010, two Miami-Dade police officers were injured when the boat they were in collided into another boat during a training drill in the waters off Key Biscayne.The reports is not clear whether the second vessel was also a Miami-Dade boat involved in the training or a civilian boat.

Florida leads the nation in boating accidents with 610 of the total 4730 boating accidents reported by the Boating Accident Statistics of the U.S. Coast Guard in 2009. This report indicates that these accidents caused 736 deaths and over 3300 injuries in that year. In Florida, boat accidents caused 53 fatalities in 2009.

Boat accidents result from boat operator inattention and inexperience, excessive speed, improper lookout and alcohol consumption. In 16 percent of the fatalities, alcohol consumption was the cause. Even more shocking is that 86 percent of the boat operators involved in fatal accidents never received any instruction in boat safety.

The injured Miami-Dade police officers may have viable workers compensation claims for the injuries that occurred in the course and scope of their employment. These injured officers may also have third party claims against the owner/operator of the boat with which they collided if that party’s negligence caused the accident and resulting injuries.
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