Six year old Snorkler killed by 13yo boater

[kchFLA]

There are boating requirements. http://myfwc.com/boating/safety/law_summary.htm But like everything else, laws get broken. The kid could have been "joy" riding.

CNN reported the kid was arrested. He evidently had a passenger who was injured and went to the hospital.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

so very sad.
I too have been buzzed by boats and jet skis with my flag. It seems to be an attraction rather than a warning!

 

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

I know growing up, my fear of what my Father would do to me was FAR worse than anything the law could do. I now use that in my life. I put the fear of ME into my kids. "Pray to God, for he has mercy. Wrong me, and I will NOT!" However, now the laws prohibit even looking at your kids crosseyed without a visit from the Child Stealers. (I used to work for them, so don't get me started. I saw more than you EVER want to know. PTSD!)
As for the boater issues,... look at the wonderful town near me called WALDO! It is known nationwide as a speedtrap. They have been harassed by AAA, and travel clubs for their harsh-handed tactics of writing tickets. I have been a victim of the ticket book, and yet I do NOT despise them. They have become known by DOING THEIR JOB!!! They even give a 5 mile over allowance. One day, for curiosity sake, I sat at an officer's favorite spot watching his radar. I saw him write a dozen tickets in an hour! Anyone doing ten miles over. He said if he wrote them for 5 over, he'd need six books a day. Most of them are that way. The point is, they WRITE tickets! They nail people for breaking the law hundreds of times a week.
It's funny to hear the warnings of "avoiding the town" because it's a speedtrap. In one area it does go from 65 to 30 in about a mile. DUH! You're driving into a town!! This area was in a 55 to 45 zone. There were LOTS of warning signs, even!
If the Law Enforcement on the water did the same thing in SOFLO, the boaters would be up in arms to congressmen about the money they bring in, the harassment by LEO's, the unfair tickets, blah, blah, blah.
Until a major lawsuit hits the state, or water safety units get hardcore about irresponsibility on/in/under the water, nothing will change. I look forward to working with Colin on the Water Safety Group when I can get some weekend time available. Perhaps mid-June would be a great time to brainstorm and effect some of the ideas he has so far. I am looking at a digvid setup for recording events on video at such a clarity it is astounding. I want to make a safety video that we can air as a PSV. By at least educating the ignorant, we may draw some attention to the problem. Once a proposal is made from a highly reputable, large scale organization, perhaps people will listen. I would be willing to post flyers, take surveys, assist in boater education/water safety classes, develop video footage, etc... I'll have something together, soon. I wish I could dedicate the time I want to. This is a serious issue, among others, that needs action. Why do we have to wait until a loved one dies before action is taken?

 

[Missdirected]

We don't even know if there was a dive flag up. People get out of their boats all day long and swim and or snorkel near them, without a flag. Maybe, just maybe, he hit the child not seeing him and it sent him off course into the boat. Then he panicked at hitting the boat - for fear he was in big trouble. It is possible. There is just too little information right now.

 

[Jim Ernst]

how very sad, i cant and dont even want to try to imagin what it would be like to be the parents on either end!!:11:

 

[Rick Christ]

Our local Miami TV news had pictures of the boats on the 6PM news
http://cbs4.com/local/local_story_149172702.html
the one the kid was driving was another runabout, not a skiff it looks bigger then 18'.

Stuff like this is going on all the time. On my charter Sunday AM trip I had a 24-28' pass between the boat and marker 32 at a high rate of speed, only 50-75 feet from me at anchor with both flags up and divers in the water. Until we are allowed to shot them it will continue to go on.

We see boaters running over and hitting the reef all the time. Back a few years ago, the Univ Miami research vessel ran aground on Loee Key, (100 ft long vessel)

 

[Packhorse]

We don't even know if there was a dive flag up. People get out of their boats all day long and swim and or snorkel near them, without a flag. Maybe, just maybe, he hit the child not seeing him and it sent him off course into the boat. Then he panicked at hitting the boat - for fear he was in big trouble. It is possible. There is just too little information right now.

Im not sure of the rules over there but in New Zealand you can not travel faster than 5 Kts within 50 meters of another vessel or 200 meters of a dive flag.

 

[RonFrank]

We don't even know if there was a dive flag up. People get out of their boats all day long and swim and or snorkel near them, without a flag. Maybe, just maybe, he hit the child not seeing him and it sent him off course into the boat. Then he panicked at hitting the boat - for fear he was in big trouble. It is possible. There is just too little information right now.

According to the news, the boat had a dive flag up. Is that true? I have no idea, but since when has a dive flag prevented careless boating?

The news also reports that the 13 year old was experienced. However I have a 12 year old son. Would I let him take an 18+foot boat out on the water without an adult.. not a chance.

I'm generally not into legislation, however IMO two things should come out of this tragedy.

1) Enforcement of the current laws and rules. Laws are rather pointless if they are not enforced. We get reports all too often from divers of all types that their flags are generally ignored, yet nothing is done.

2) Legislation requiring more training and stiffer penalties for boat operators who violate the laws.

I was driving my fathers boat as long as I can remember, but always with him on board, or my mother, at least until I was around the age of 16. By that time I could handle that boat as well or better than they could, and was towing it with the car as well, so we started taking it out on our own.

The major difference seems to be that while we were generally in less than crowded lakes (and jet skis had not been invented, or at least were not popular) there is a LOT more traffice these days on the water at popular destinations. Small boats are fun and relatively easy to handle, but it's also too easy to get distracted especially a couple of young kids crusing at a good speed.

Sure these types of incidents are isolated, but one senseless death due not paying attention to the rules, or what you are doing when operating heavy equipment is really too many.

Six years old, what a tragedy. 13 years old, and having to deal with something like this, another huge tragedy.

 

[RonFrank]

This is a serious issue, among others, that needs action. Why do we have to wait until a loved one dies before action is taken?

I

In Colorado they have been taking boating laws somewhat seriously from what I've witnessed. I did some volenteer work for the Park Service. On busy weekends they will pull one out of every four boats aside, and if the driver shows ANY signs that alcohol is getting consumed, they give him a soberity test. It they fail the penalties are almost as bad as if you are driving drunk. This is in part due to the death of several people over in recent years generally involving high speed collisions and alcohol.

My thinking is FL has a HUGE boating industry, and so the wheels get greased. I'm not really in favor of the extreme steps that CO goes through in part in the name of revenue, but it does seem to be effective.

Boaters in our pathetic overcrowded lakes are scared silly when faced with the prospect of getting a DUI. The few I know that have larger boats where they spend weekends do a bit of boating in the AM, and then go to the slip to party. I think it works well for them, they aren't driving their boat or car after consuming alcohol, and the slips are somewhat private in that not just anyone can get to those areas, and the authorities generally leave them in peace as long as they are just hanging out.

 

[deeper thoughts]

They definitely said there was a dive flag