Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
A boat operator has the duty to operate his or her vessel in a reasonable and safe manner and the duty to the public to exercise reasonable care in the use, operation, and control of the vessel.
The “reasonable care” standard is not singular to the State of Florida, and it generally applies, in one form or another, in all of the other states throughout the country. It will be a central issue in the civil case that will soon begin in Pennsylvania after these events took place on July 7, 2010 in the Delaware River:
Leesfield & Partners has a long standing history in representing families of victims who lost their life or were catastrophically injured by the negligence of a boat operator. Recently, Ira Leesfield and Thomas Scolaro resolved a tragic case where a young child who was snorkeling with his family was killed when he was hit and ran over by a high horsepower motorboat operated by a teenager.
Despite the duty of reasonable care, the teenager was reckless in his operation of the boat and was the sole reason for causing this horrific incident. In the ensuing claim, the complaint alleged multiple violations of the law by the operator of the boat, including the following violations:
– Failure to operate the subject motorboat at a safe and reasonable speed;
– Failure to keep a safe and proper lookout while operating the subject motorboat;
– Recklessly operating the subject motorboat at an excess speed under the conditions;
– Failure to use caution in the operation of the subject motorboat when approaching snorkelers with a divers down flag;
– Failure to use caution in the operation of the subject motorboat when approaching snorkelers, divers, swimmers and other boaters;
Leesfield & Partners is one of the leading personal injury firms to handle boating and maritime accidents. Established over 35 years ago as a Key West and South Florida trial lawyers, this firm has tried many cases in Key West. Leesfield & Partners has obtained the largest verdict in Monroe County’s history.
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