INJURED ON A BOAT CLUB BOAT
One of the lesser known facts of boating in Florida is that there are many people on the water who have very little experience operating a vessel. This alone leads to a greater chance of a boat crash between two boats or of an injury to passengers on a vessel where the operator of the vessel has limited experience—if any experience at all. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission a/k/a “FWC” has documented that boater inexperience is a major factor in boating injury accidents. Florida has more than 1 million registered recreational vessels and that does not include the additional out of state vessels who come to Florida, especially during the snowbird season.
Another factor in boating injuries is the rise in popularity of boat clubs. Boat clubs vary a bit in how they operate but the basic premise is the same: join the club, you do not have to own a boat, the club has the boats, the boater reserves a boat, takes out the club’s boat, and on return the boat club does the clean up. Unfortunately, there is a lot more that goes on in between the boat club member signing up and the return of the vessel.
First, there is no guarantee that the new boat club member has any experience whatsoever in ever operating a boat of any kind. That is a serious issue when you consider the first-time boat operator is going to be placed out in the midst of all the other boaters on that weekend or Memorial Day, July 4th, or Labor Day weekend.
Under Florida law the State of Florida has decided to make it very easy for a new boat operator to get into a boat and drive. If the operator is born before 1988, no license, no eye exam, and no testing of any kind is required. If the operator can afford, or rent, or join a boat club, they can be legally ready to operate the vessel with no experience and no testing of any kind. While that may sound alarming, for those born on or after January 1, 1988, a simple on-line course and test is all that is required for those younger operators to be able to operate a vessel in Florida waters amongst all the other vessels. Again, no eye exam, and no driving test is required to demonstrate the ability to actually operate a vessel.
This is why it is not surprising to us, the attorneys at www.888BoatLaw.com, that we see many injury cases involving boat clubs and boat rental situations. No doubt both boat clubs and boat rentals are very convenient, but can place inexperienced boat operators with vessels that have the capacity to travel at 50 mph or more. There are two basic origins of boating injuries we see here at the law firm of www.888BoatLaw.com in our 25 years experience. There are injuries which occur inside of the boat club or rented vessel, and there are injuries that arise due to interactions with other vessels or other external objects.
Boating accident injuries which occur inside the boat club vessel or rented vessel that we have seen are:
- Injuries produced by the operator driving too fast over waves or wakes.
- Injuries from sudden acceleration of the vessel causing passengers to fall.
- Injuries from the operator striking another vessel or object (i.e., dock, channel marker, jetties, bridge, etc.)
- Injuries from interaction with equipment on board (i.e., anchors, fishing equipment, ropes, fall downs on the hard deck, etc.
Boating accidents which occur outside of the boat club or rented vessel that we regularly handle include:
- Propeller-strike cases. These are more prevalent than you would think.
- Collisions with other vessels, causing injury to passengers on the other vessel.
- Collisions with people in the water.
- Injuries sustained while skiing, wake boarding or tubing.
- Injuries sustained while loading or unloading a vessel.
Florida has decided to make boating revenue primary over safety concerns. Florida could make it more involved to be able to operate a vessel in Florida waters amongst other vessels and people, but Florida has chosen not to require an operator—even a new one—to demonstrate that the operator has the skill to safely operate the vessel. Boat clubs are in the business to add members and revenue to their ranks. Yes, the boat clubs have materials to read, videos to watch, and some even have a first-time ride-along, but the basics remain the same that many of the boat club members and boat rental customers have zero prior boating experience. Consider this is not the equivalent of having to take a class on driver’s education like you would to obtain a Florida’s Driver’s License.
In our 25-years experience representing injured boating accident victims we have seen many injuries arise out of boat club vessel’s operator’s mistakes. We have seen many serious injuries arise from one-day boat rentals or from peer-to-peer rentals like BoatSetter or smaller off-the-grid peer-to-peer boat rental situations. You should be aware that if you are injured on a vessel in the State of Florida, in the overwhelming majority of cases, maritime law will apply, not Florida law. What that means for you is that the auto accident attorneys who advertise on TV are not likely to know the law that applies to your boat injury case. The law which applies to auto accidents does not apply to boating accident cases in Florida. Beware of a car accident attorney who wants to handle your boating accident case; if they can not tell you about maritime law, they do not know the law.
At www.888BoatLaw.com we practice in boating injury law every day. We represent victims of boating accidents and have been successfully achieving awards for our clients for more than 25 years. We know which law applies to your case.
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