jet ski

Published on: August 19, 2025

Surviving Fort Lauderdale Personal Watercraft Victim in Stable Condition, officials say.

One of two sisters involved in an Aug. 12 fatal personal watercraft crash in Fort Lauderdale’s Intracoastal Waterway is reportedly in stable condition, according to reporting from local news outlets.

Aviva Bracha Nisanov, 16, of New York, was rushed to Broward Medical Center in critical condition following the crash that killed her sister, 13-year-old Rachel Aliza Nisanov. The two with their parents, Rebbitzin Ora Nisanov and Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov, while the family was vacationing from their home in New York.

The crash happened around 3:30 p.m. near the 2800 block of Northeast 24th Court when the two crashed into a concrete dock.

Published on: August 14, 2025

Sisters in Monday Fort Lauderdale Personal Watercraft Crash were on guided tour, FWC says.

By Leesfield & Partners

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 24^th 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.

Published on: August 13, 2025

One Dead, Another Injured in Fort Lauderdale Personal Watercraft Tragedy, officials say.

By Leesfield & Partners

Weeks after a devastating sailboat-barge collision in Miami Beach, another tragedy has struck South Florida — this time leaving one teenager dead and another seriously injured.

The incident happened Tuesday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale on the Intracoastal Waterway near the 2800 block of Northeast 24^th Court, according to reporting from local media. The girls were riding tandem on a personal watercraft around 3:30 p.m. when they allegedly crashed into a dock.

Both girls were taken to the Broward Medical Center where one of them died and another remains seriously injured.

Published on: August 5, 2025

Leesfield & Partners Representing Family of Girl, 7, Injured in Miami Beach Deadly Sailboat Crash.

By Leesfield & Partners

Leesfield & Partners is representing 7-year-old Calena Areyan Gruber and her family following the devastating sailboat crash that killed three other minors in Miami Beach.

“My heart goes out to the families of those involved in this most tragic incident,” said Partner Justin B. Shapiro. “Very few details have been shared with the public, and it is too early to cast blame on any particular individual or entity. Regardless, it is absolutely clear this is an incident that cannot happen in the absence of negligence, incompetence, or both.”

Calena’s parents, Karina Gruber Moreno and Enrique Areyan Viqueira, issued a statement Monday to local media asking for privacy following her release from the hospital.

Published on: August 4, 2025

Coast Guard: Captain of Tugboat in Fatal Miami Beach Sailboat Crash Not Impaired. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

Neither the tugboat captain, a camp counselor, nor a person aboard the barge was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the fatal boat crash that killed one child and injured others off Miami Beach on Monday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

These initial findings were reported Friday by The Miami Herald after a 60-foot barge being pulled by a tugboat slammed into a 17-foot Hobie Gateway carrying at five children with the Miami Youth Sailing Foundation and their camp counselor.

At least two girls died and two more were seriously injured in the crash, which occurred between Hibiscus and Monuments islands.

Published on: June 24, 2016

Florida’s Jet Ski Safety Statutes – Great for Public Safety / Great for Litigants

By Leesfield & Partners

Jet Ski The vast majority of recreational and tourist activities enjoyed in Florida are not regulated by the Florida legislature. Most tour operators have complete freedom to operate their business virtually any way they see fit. This usually results in a culture of maximizing profit to the detriment of customer safety. Warning, instructing, and training tourists requires time, and time is money.

Fortunately, the Florida legislature has been proactive in regulating the boating industry, and specifically, jet ski rentals. Under Florida Statute 327.54, anyone renting jet skis to the public, whether for a guided tour or independent use, must provide certain training and instruction prior to the rental. This includes training regarding the operational functions, navigable rules, safe practices, and local hazards. The law allows only certified instructors to provide the mandatory training, and the participants must sign off that they received the training. Additionally, all renters born after 1988 must now pass a written examination covering jet ski safety at the rental site prior to the rental. These safety requirements are a result of the enormous amount of jet ski collisions that have occurred throughout Florida as the industry has soared.

Clearly, these jet ski statutes promote safety for inexperienced renters and anyone who may come in contact with them in the water. In our experience, however, these statutes are violated all too often. Jet ski rental companies simply do not spend the time to train and instruct rental customers pursuant to the statutes. They advertise to the public that jet skis are safe, entry-level devices that require no previous experience. They then rush renters through the process and place them in the water to operate these dangerous instrumentalities with virtually no training and hope for the best. In many cases our firm has handled, our clients were provided with no training or instruction at all.