Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
The girls from a prominent family in the Queens, New York, Bukharian Jewish community who were involved in a deadly Fort Lauderdale personal watercraft crash were on a guided tour, according to authorities.
The two, 13-year-old Rachel Aliza Nisanov and her sister, 16-year-old Aviva Bracha Nisanov, were riding tandem on a personal watercraft — mostly known as a jet ski — in the Intracoastal Waterway Tuesday around 3:30 p.m. when they crashed into a concrete dock, according to The Miami Herald. The girls were near the 2800 block of Northeast 24th Court.
After the crash, the two were rushed to Broward Health Medical Center where Rachel died from her injuries and Aviva remains in critical condition, the newspaper said. The parents of both girls — Rebbitzin Ora Nisanov and Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov — were on another personal watercraft in the area when the crash occurred. Their father leapt into the water in a desperate attempt to save them.
When speaking with local media, Rabbi Nisanov said his hands were scraped while trying to save his daughters, two of his and his wife’s eight children. He also expressed frustration and said that his children were not properly advised on how to maneuver a personal watercraft, adding that the family did not sign paperwork.
“I didn’t come to Florida to bury my daughter,” Nisanov said. “I came to Florida to have a good time with her and now I have to take her back in a casket. It’s not the way I imagined my vacation.”
Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the agency investigating the crash, told reporters with The Herald that the group was on a guided tour but did not release the name of the tour company.
Rachel’s body was transported via plane Wednesday back to New York for her funeral and will later be taken to Israel for burial.
The investigation is ongoing.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners is a personal injury law firm with offices in Key West, Orlando and Miami. With decades of experience handling every manner of water-related injury throughout Florida, our attorneys know just how catastrophic personal watercraft incidents can be. This is mostly due to a combination of the currents and the underestimated use of strength needed to properly and safely maneuver these vessels. Though they are widely marketed as easy to use and “beginner-friendly,” Partner Justin B. Shapiro attested to their dangers in a recent article published in the Daily Business Review. With no brakes and no way to turn unless increased throttle is applied at the same they turn the handlebars, these watercrafts can pose a serious danger.
While they may appear unassuming, these vessels are responsible for more injuries and deaths than any other water activity seen by Leesfield & Partners attorneys, Mr. Shapiro said in the article.
“As the summer months yield their inevitable slew of injuries, prospective renters should be aware of the life-threatening dangers of jet skis, and their attorneys should be intimately familiar with the many regulations that were enacted to keep them safe,” he said.
Mr. Shapiro is representing a woman in an ongoing case involving a cruise ship’s guided jet ski tour. In that case, the woman was severely injured when the ship’s tour guide violently slammed into her from behind while attempting to pass her on his jet ski. She suffered spinal fractures and severe bruising as a result of the guide’s recklessness.
Data from the FWC’s annual boating accident report shows that there was a total of 685 reportable boating incidents in the state in 2024 with 81 fatalities and nearly 400 injuries. Of these incidents, at least 149 involved personal watercraft such as jet skis. Over half of these PWC accidents were caused by a collision with another vessel. At least 12 people were killed and 113 others were injured in these crashes, the data showed.
Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, has been a steadfast supporter of increased ocean safety and a need for greater accountability across the tourism and hospitality industry in Florida. For nearly five decades, Mr. Leesfield and the attorneys at Leesfield & Partners have been strong advocates for sober boating, life jacket use and other critical safety practices to help prevent these tragedies.
“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,” he said. “Important safety standards must be enforced on all watercrafts.”
Previous Jet Ski Crash Cases
Leesfield & partners’ six skilled trial attorneys have secured numerous multi-million dollar settlements for clients and their grieving families at the hands in nearly five decades.
In the last several years alone, the firm has secured more than $10 million in verdicts and settlements for clients injured as the result of jet ski crashes in the state.
One avoidable death that altered the life of a couple forever resulted from a Key West rental company flouting necessary safety training requirements, as mandated by law. The company failed to ensure that every one of their renters understood the safety tutorial and knew how to operate the personal watercraft that day. A French-speaking renter, whom they did not adequately prep, fatally collided with the wife of a Leesfield & Partners client. The company failed to provide their customer with the translation he needed to understand how to use the jet ski.
Leesfield & Partners attorneys were able to secure a multi-million-dollar settlement for the family in that case.
In another jet ski crash, a man visiting from California with his family was seriously injured when he violently crashed into a concrete bridge piling. The man was on a guided jet ski tour with his family at the time. The guides, who are required to prep their customers for the strong currents they would face, led them through a narrow bridge opening and sped far away from them throughout the tour the day the man crashed.
Leesfield & Partners previously represented a jet ski crash victim who suffered serious injuries and obtained a $1 million recovery for that client.
The firm secured a $935,000 recovery for a client involved in a jet ski collision with a boat.
A $900,000 recovery was obtained for a client injured in an accident involving a jet ski company.
A jet ski crash case involving a rental company resulted in a six-figure settlement amount obtained for an injured Leesfield & Partners client.
