Newly passed Florida law includes stiffer penalties following boat accidents

A new bill passed by the Florida State Legislature seeks to introduce more severe penalties for individuals whose actions are found to have contributed to boating accidents resulting in death, serious injury or damage to property in the state's waters.

Senate Bill 58 (SB 58), also known as the 2025 Florida Boat Accident Penalty Bill, provides increased criminal penalties for the reckless operation of a vessel that will cause serious bodily injury to another.

SB 58 also revises the conditions that compose the offence of, and penalties for, boating under the influence; and revises the definition of the term "vessel homicide" to include the killing of an unborn child by causing injury to the mother by operation of a vessel in a reckless manner under certain circumstances.

The bill was originally filed on November 11, 2024, and was passed into law on Wednesday, March 26.

Florida State Senator Ileana Garcia had introduced the bill in response to boating accidents in Florida wherein the drivers or operators were impaired due to alcohol or drugs.

A study conducted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) revealed that Florida had the highest number of recorded boating fatalities of any US state with an average of 65 boating-related deaths each year. Incidents were also found to have occurred frequently in Miami and the Florida Keys.

The year 2023 saw 59 recorded fatalities, over 10 per cent of which were traced to the consumption of alcohol.

SB 58 is known alternately as "Lucy's Law" in honour of Lucy Fernandez, a South Florida teenager who died after the boat on which she was a passenger struck a channel marker and capsized near Boca Chita Key in Miami-Dade County on September 4, 2022.

Boat operator George Pino has been charged with vessel homicide in connection with the incident that killed Fernandez. His case is still ongoing in local court.

An investigation conducted by the FWC following the incident revealed Pino was manoeuvring the boat recklessly, which then caused it to crash into the channel marker.

Good Samaritans and personnel from local agencies were able to safely rescue the boat's 13 other occupants, Pino included.