Clearwater Maritime Accidents Lawyer

Need an Attorney for a Maritime Accident in Clearwater?

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) serves Floridians and visitors to help provide a safe environment where they can enjoy Florida's waters. The FWC Division of Law Enforcement not only provides protection to those who enjoy Florida's natural resources, but it also enforces Florida's boating safety laws. The FWC's officers patrol rural, wilderness, inshore and offshore areas, as well as places where other law enforcement agencies don't normally patrol.

The FWC helps to ensure that Floridians and visitors are safe when they are on the water through law enforcement's proactive efforts, by initiating boating safety inspections and by minimizing any environmental hazards on the waterways.

With nearly one million registered vessels in the state, Florida leads the nation in the number of vessels, and unfortunately as a negative consequence of the number of vessels and Florida's mild climate, the state has the highest numbers of boating fatalities annually. According to the FWC, in 2011 there were 742 reportable boating accidents and 67 boating related fatalities. A number of these deaths involved victims falling overboard and drowning.

According to the FWC, statistics show that the boat operator that is most likely to be involved in a boating accident is a middle aged or older male who has had a significant amount of boating experience but has never been educated on important safety considerations or taken a boating safety course. According to the FWC's 2011 report, personal watercrafts (PWC) accounted for 13% of all registered vessels in Florida; PWCs were involved in 22% of reporting boating accidents and 41% of PWC accidents involved a collision with another vehicle. What's more, 31% of the PWC accidents occurred in Monroe, Miami-Dade and Pinellas Counties with Monroe County ranking #1.

Clearwater Maritime Accident Lawyer

Pinellas County residents can enjoy a host of water-related activities that may include boating, fishing, and water skiing, jet skiing, canoeing, kayaking, and sailing among other activities. Unfortunately maritime accidents are not uncommon in Pinellas County. While there are a number of causes for such accidents, often times the root cause can be traced back to operator negligence, lack of boater safety training, alcohol use, or a manufacturer's defect. If you or someone you love has been injured in a water-related accident, you are urged to contact a Clearwater personal injury attorney from Cope, Zebro & Crawford, P.L. to discuss your legal rights and possible entitlement to compensatory damages.

Should you choose our legal team, you will benefit from having a former insurance defense attorney, a former DUI prosecutor and a former trucking company lawyer by your side, pursuing maximum compensation for you losses. Due to the legal versatility our team has to offer, you can be rest assured that we will carefully evaluate all possible angles and avenues to bring about a favorable result in your maritime injury case. Call our office now!