At least two people were injured after a pontoon boat crashed into a wooden dock on the Intracoastal Waterway near Beverly Beach in Flagler County on the Fourth of July.
Emergency responders were called around 5:18 p.m. and rescued both people from the water, according to reporting from local media. At least one person had life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital in Daytona Beach. The second person was in “stable condition” and was taken to AdventHealth Palm Coast.
The boat was severely damaged in the crash as were parts of the wooden dock.
The crash is under investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
In an annual report from the FWC, a collision with a fixed object was the leading cause of accidents in 2024, the year with the latest data available. The numbers showed a total of 685 reportable accidents in 2024 with 81 deaths and 394 injuries. In the fatal collisions, at least 65% of vessel operators had no formal boater’s education.
This number is not surprising to attorneys at Leesfield & Partners, a Florida-based personal injury law firm with decades of maritime law experience. The commonalities between devastating boat accident cases handled by this firm remains boater inexperience, boating under the influence, and reckless boating.
Leesfield & Partners
With headquarters in Miami-Dade County, an area that FWC reported had the most boating accidents in 2024, our skilled trial attorneys know just how dangerous the water can be. From reckless speeding at night to a disregard for safety protocols, water safety remains a serious concern in a state with over one million registered vessels.
Partner Justin B. Shapiro recently spoke to the media discussing Lucy’s Law, which went into effect on July 1. Lucy’s Law was named for 17-year-old Our Lady of Lourdes Academy student Luciana Fernandez who died in a 2022 boat crash. The law aims to highlight the issue of boater education and imposes stricter penalties for boaters who leave the scene of an accident, and those convicted of reckless boating.
For our attorneys, including Mr. Shapiro, who have seen families devastated and forever fractured by these preventable crashes these changes are “long overdue.”
“I don’t understand why we need a driver’s license to drive a car but not a boaters license to operate a boat when, in many ways, operating a boat is more difficult and more dangerous,” he said.
The FWC reported at least 75 accidents in Miami-Dade County in 2024 with eight fatalities and 41 injuries. The area with the most boating accidents in Florida after Miami in 2024 was Monroe County, where Leesfield & Partners has maintained an office on historic Whitehead Street since the 1980s. In that time, the firm represented individuals and grieving families through tragic and preventable boating accident cases.
“The dangers from boating incidents are entirely underestimated as South Florida becomes more congested, drinking on the water becomes more prevalent and distractions from cell phones and other devices increases,” said Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner. “Important safety standards must be enforced on all watercrafts.”
Previous Boating Accident Cases
Previously, the firm represented a minor who was not being properly supervised by the negligent adults charged with his care. While the minor was on the vessel, he was involved in an accident and lost a limb as a result.
Leesfield & Partners attorneys obtained a substantial settlement in that case.
The firm previously handled the case of a family whose young son was snorkeling when he was hit and killed by a passing boater. The boater in that case was also a minor who should never have been given permission to operate the vessel without supervision. Not only did this minor not stop, but he attempted to cover up evidence and lied to police when questioned.
Neighbors later testified that this minor regularly operated the boat in a reckless manner.
The firm represented the family of a young woman, 20, who tragically died when the vessel she was on crashed into a concrete dock. The firm secured over $1.3 million for the family when it was revealed that the boat operator had been drinking and speeding the night of the crash.
In a boat case involving a foreign resort, the firm secured an $800,000 recovery for the injured client.
Another boating accident involving a negligent operator resulted in a $500,000 recovery.
The firm represented the widow of a man who drowned while on a boat tour at the Dry Tortugas National Park. The company’s tour guides instructed the man where he should go to snorkel and, within minutes, his body was found unresponsive.
Leesfield & Partners attorneys secured a six-figure recovery in that case.
Bernardo Pimentel II, a Leesfield & Partners Trial Attorney, represented the family of a young man and father-to-be who was lobster diving when he was killed by a law enforcement officer who negligently failed to adhere to divers-down flag laws.
Whether boating accident cases, jet ski crashes, parasailing or other water-related recreational activities, Leesfield & Partners attorneys work diligently to secure the best possible outcome for every client.