WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A proposed bill in the Florida House of Representatives targets reckless boating in the state.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state has the highest number of registered boats in the country with just over a million in 2023. This also means there has been an increase in boating accidents; 659 accidents were reported in 2023, 59 of which were fatal.
Proposed House Bill 289 also known as Lucy's Law is named after 17-year-old Luciana Fernandez. She died in 2022 after a boat she was in struck a channel marker in Biscayne Bay. The driver refused a breathalyzer test and was charged with felony vessel homicide.
If passed, the law would suspend the driver's license of anyone convicted of boating under the influence, among other strict penalty changes.
A companion Senate bill, SB 628, also increases penalties for unsafe boating along with a different Senate bill, SB 58 all looking to increase those boater protections.
“When you're driving a boat, you're controlling steel propellers that can easily cut off an arm, like this,” said boating accident survivor Carter Vis. “So it's extremely important to be holding boaters accountable”
Vis was snorkeling when a boater missed his dive flag and collided with him, nearly killing him. Since then he’s been advocating for stricter laws on our waterways.
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“Boating has been seen as more of a leisure activity, and a lot of kind of relaxed rules have been made about it, and it's finally getting into the light that when boating accidents happen, they're usually very brutal and very shocking,”
Whether it’s focusing on boating under the influence, getting educated or anything else that increases safety for boaters, in Carter’s opinion, it’s long overdue.
“It’s kind of a no-brainer that these laws are getting, finally getting put into place,” said Vis.
"It's inspiring to see the work that's gone into getting Lucy's law out there," said Vis. "And it's just so crucial, crucial, excuse me, to have these laws in place and to really hold boaters accountable.”
