Key West Injury Lawyer Blog
A person has died and two others remain hospitalized after a boat overturned in Key Largo Saturday, marking at least the second boat crash in the Florida Keys in just over a week, officials say.
Saturday’s crash happened before 10:30 a.m. when a 34-foot Nor-Tech carrying three people turned sharply, ejecting all three passengers into the water.
The three were rescued from the water by passersby and were later airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.
The person who died was identified Sunday as 21-year-old Eytan M. Genoune of Boynton Beach, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the boat crash.
This is at least the second incident in just over a week in the Florida Keys. On Nov. 7, five people were ejected from a 39-foot Deep Impact vessel carrying at least eight people. All five were taken to a hospital for treatment where one of them died from their injuries.
Boating Injury Cases
Leesfield & Partners has historically represented victims of boating injuries and their families in Florida. With offices in places like Orlando, Key West and Miami, the firm has built a reputation in nearly five decades of personal injury practice as one with attorneys who doggedly pursue the best possible outcome for injured clients. Most recently, Justin B. Shapiro, a Partner and Trial Lawyer at the firm, filed suit in a tragic boat crash that resulted in the death of his client’s 24-year-old son, Justin Sosa.
“This preventable tragedy is a direct result of the defendant’s gross negligence,” Mr. Shapiro said in an article published in The Miami Herald. “We are committed to seeking justice for Justin’s family and holding the responsible party accountable.”
In that case, Sosa, was on a boat operated by Eric Rodriguez, 25, the night he was catapulted from the vessel, impaling his skull on a metal rod. Not only was Rodriguez operating the vessel while intoxicated, but he was speeding in the rain with low visibility toward shore.
That case is ongoing.
Leesfield & Partners also previously represented the family of a man killed while lobster diving by a law enforcement officer who did not adhere to distance laws concerning divers-down flags. The maximum, capped settlement was secured for the man’s grieving family by Bernardo Pimentel II, a Leesfield & Partners Trial Lawyer.
Leesfield & Partners previously represented a jet skier who was significantly injured after a distracted boater negligently crashed into her.
In a case involving a diver, Leesfield & Partners attorneys were able to secure $2 million in the wrongful death case of a snorkeler killed after a motorboat failed to see divers-down flags in the area.
The firm previously represented the family of a young woman killed after a boat she was on crashed into a concrete dock. The operator of the vessel in that case was found to be speeding at night where boat operators must be cautious because it can be difficult to see fixed objects on the water. The operator in that case was also drinking the night of the boat crash.
Leesfield & Partners secured over $1 million for the family in that case.
A minor who lost a leg in a boating accident was awarded a substantial amount in a settlement for negligent supervision of boating activities.
A boat carrying cargo exploded when an on board spark from the portable gas pump ignited the cargo, resulting in severe burns to our client. In an investigation, it was discovered that the boat was not up to seaworthy standards and had inadequately trained the crew. A large award was obtained for the client’s family in that case.
Leesfield & Partners Boating Safety Tips
The issue of boating safety has been prevalent for years in South Florida where Leesfield & Partners obtains a considerable amount of these tragic cases at the hands of negligent boat operators or because of faulty equipment on board a vessel. In decades of personal injury practice, Ira H. Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, has employed the use of his firm’s digital sign, which faces traffic in both directions on U.S. 1, promoting safety advisories to thousands of South Florida commuters daily. The eye-catching display, often displaying news of the firm, also rotates through safety tips to remind people that the ocean can be a dangerous place. The sign has become such a familiar sight on the highway that it previously caught the attention of national news outlets.
Safety tips from Leesfield & Partners include always wearing a life jacket, checking the weather before heading out on the water and always adhering to boating safety laws. Below is a list of several important tips.
- Never drink and boat.
- Keep necessary emergency kits on board that include essential items like flare guns, fire extinguishers and first-aid kits.
- Take a boater’s education course and continue taking one every few years to stay up-to-date on the latest safety information.
- Never go out boating without telling someone what area you are headed to and when they can expect you to be back. This is so that, in case of an emergency, someone will know that you did not return and can give rescue teams an area to begin searching for you.
- Carry life vests approved by the Coast Guard for every person on board. Children should wear a life vest at all times when on a boat.
- Never allow a child to operate a vessel.
