MIAMI, FL—With 668 boat accidents reported during the year 2010 alone, Florida leads the nation in boating accidents and resultant fatalities, according to statistical data provided by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Such accidents resulted in 79 boating deaths and left 389 crash victims injured last year.
In 2010, there were 4604 recreational boating accidents, 605 of which were deemed to be fatal, reported throughout the nation. Those incidents resulted in 672 deaths and 3,153 injuries. There were a total of 608 recreational boating accidents statewide in 2010, including 72 that were reported in Miami-Dade County alone. The additional 60 Florida boat accidents initially mentioned were considered “reportable”, but not “recreational.”
Focusing on all reportable boating mishaps throughout the state, statistics suggested that of 73 fatal accidents involving 82 boat operators, 71 percent (58 operators) had no prior boater education. Additionally, 7 percent of accident victims were unable to swim and 53 percent of 79 victims were not wearing life jackets (personal floatation devices—PFD) at the time.
Furthermore, alcohol played a role in 330 accidents throughout the nation, including 39 throughout the state. Last year, drunk boating accidents claimed the lives of 126 victims and left 293 others injured. The Coast Guard estimates that individuals who operate their vessels with a blood alcohol levels above .10 percent are 10 times as likely to die in a boat crash then boaters who choose to stay sober while operating a watercraft.
Maintaining that countless boaters take to the water with the intention of consuming alcohol at some point or another, the Miami injury attorneys of Gerson & Schwarz warned both passengers and drivers to heed caution for potentially negligent boat operators.
About the Miami boat accident lawyers and cruise ship injury attorneys of Gerson & Schwartz:
For more than 30 years, the Miami boating accident attorneys of Gerson & Schwartz have been dedicated to protecting the rights of travelers and cruise ship employees who have sustained serious injury or been subjected to preventable harm while aboard these “hospitable” vessels. The experienced Miami injury lawyers of Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. strive to ensure that justice be upheld in the cruise ship industry, and that cruise ship accident victims ultimately be compensated for their injuries and damages.