What to Do After a Boating Accident in Florida
Step 1 — Ensure Safety and Call for Help
Your first priority is immediate safety — for yourself and everyone else involved.
- Get yourself and any other victims out of danger: If anyone is in the water, focus on getting them to safety without putting yourself at further risk. Throw flotation devices. Use the vessel’s radio if it works.
- Call for emergency help immediately: Dial 911 or use VHF Marine Radio Channel 16 — the international distress frequency monitored by the U.S. Coast Guard. Give your location as precisely as you can. GPS coordinates are ideal; if you do not have them, describe landmarks, channel markers, or other identifiable features.
- Do not move seriously injured people: unless they are in immediate danger of further harm. Spinal injuries are common in boating accidents, and unnecessary movement can worsen them.
Step 2 — Report the Accident to FWC
Florida law requires the operator of a vessel involved in a boating accident to render aid and to report accidents involving death, injury, or significant property damage to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
When those conditions are met, reporting is not optional — it is a legal obligation.
The FWC accident report is also one of the most important pieces of evidence in your personal injury claim. It documents:
The circumstances and location of the accident.
Witness identification and contact information.
The investigating officer’s observations and findings.
Whether boating under the influence (BUI) or other violations were identified.
Information about the vessels and operators involved.
Obtain a copy of the FWC accident report as soon as it becomes available. Your attorney will use it as a foundation for investigating your claim.
Step 3 — Seek Medical Care Immediately
After any boating accident involving impact, a fall, or contact with water, seek medical evaluation — even if you do not feel seriously injured.
Boating accident injuries — including head injuries, spinal injuries, and internal trauma — can be masked at first by adrenaline and the disorientation of being in the water. Symptoms may take hours or days to appear. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) may produce only a mild headache at first. Spinal injuries may feel like general soreness.
Seeing a physician or emergency room right after the accident:
Ensures your injuries are identified and treated promptly.
Creates a medical record documenting the connection between the accident and your injuries.
Forecloses the insurer’s later argument that your injuries were not serious (because you did not seek immediate care) or were caused by something other than the accident.
Continuing medical care as directed — and not abandoning treatment before your doctors recommend it — matters just as much, for both your health and your claim.
Step 4 — Document the Scene
If it is safe to do so, document the accident scene before conditions change.
- Photographs: Capture damage to the vessels, the positions of boats in the water, visible injuries, and any environmental conditions (weather, lighting, channel markers, obstructions) relevant to how the accident occurred.
- Video: A brief video capturing 360-degree context can be more informative than still photographs alone.
- Identify witnesses: Get the names and contact information of anyone who saw the accident. Witness testimony is often critical in disputed-liability boating cases, and people disperse quickly after a water accident — do not assume you can find them later.
- Preserve your own account: As soon as you can, write down everything you remember in detail — the sequence of events, what you saw, what you heard, the conditions at the time. Memory fades. Contemporaneous notes are more credible than recollections formed weeks or months later.
Step 5 — Do Not Give a Recorded Statement to the Other Party’s Insurer
After the accident, the other operator’s insurance company may contact you quickly — sometimes within 24 to 48 hours — asking for a recorded statement.
Do not give one.
You are not required to cooperate with the opposing party’s insurer. Its goal in requesting an early recorded statement is to capture your account before you have medical records, legal counsel, or full knowledge of your injuries. Anything you say can be used to minimize your claim.
Politely decline, and let them know all communications should go through your attorney. If you have not yet retained one, tell them you are in the process of doing so.
Step 6 — Contact a Boating Accident Attorney
Boating accident cases present legal complexities distinct from standard automobile claims — including whether state tort law or federal admiralty law applies, the role of the FWC in the investigation, maritime insurance issues, and the potential liability of rental companies and vessel owners.
Retaining an experienced boating accident attorney as soon as possible after the accident accomplishes several important things:
- Stops direct insurer contact: The letter of representation your attorney sends cuts off the opposing insurer’s ability to contact you directly.
- Preserves evidence: Your attorney puts all parties on legal notice to preserve evidence — including the vessels involved, surveillance footage, electronic navigation data, and maintenance records.
- Manages the FWC investigation: Your attorney monitors the FWC investigation and obtains the accident report when it becomes available.
- Protects your rights throughout the claim: From the initial reporting through negotiations and, if necessary, litigation, your attorney manages the process so you can focus on recovery.
The 2-Year Statute of Limitations
Under HB 837, Florida’s 2023 tort reform law, you have two years from the date of the boating accident to file a personal injury lawsuit — reduced from the prior four years. The same 2-year period applies to wrongful death claims.
Two years is not as long as it sounds when you are focused on medical treatment and recovery. Investigation takes time. Expert witnesses must be retained. Evidence disappears. Contact an attorney well before the deadline — not at it.
Contact HLM Injury Lawyers — Free Consultation
Eric A. Hernandez — former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and former clerk to Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles T. Wells — has more than 25 years of trial experience representing seriously injured people throughout South Florida.
HLM Injury Lawyers represents boating accident victims in Coral Springs, Parkland, Coconut Creek, Margate, Tamarac, Pompano Beach, Broward County, and across South Florida. Eric is bilingual in English and Spanish.
If you were injured in a boating accident, call (305) 842-2100 for a free consultation.
HLM Injury Lawyers
3301 N. University Dr., Suite 100, Coral Springs, FL 33065
(305) 842-2100