Summer Brings Increase in New Jersey Area Boating Accidents

The hot summer weather has brought with it an increase in boating accidents in the New Jersey area and throughout the country.

  • On the Fourth of July, a yacht packed with 27 people watching fireworks capsized off Long Island. Three children died after being trapped in the cabin of the 34-foot boat.
  • From the Ocean City airport, a child was airlifted to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia by the New Jersey State Police after suffering injuries in a jet ski accident. A tow-behind personal inflatable was also involved. The child suffered multiple traumas to the pelvis and legs and may have had internal injuries.
  • The same day, near the fishing pier on the Route 52 Causeway, firefighters responded when they received a report of a kayaker in distress. The kayak had overturned, filled with water, and started sinking.
  • In Orlando, Florida, a former NASA astronaut who commanded the Space Shuttle Discovery’s second-to-last mission died after a water scooter crash. His son, 26, ran into the back of the scooter being ridden by his father. Another son was riding on his father’s scooter and was thrown into the water.
  • In Greenpoint, a 21-year-old Cranbury, New Jersey man was injured while trying to cross a boat’s wake in his personal watercraft.

Alcohol and boating can be an especially dangerous combination.

In June, New Jersey State Troopers and the Coast Guard participated in a nationwide crackdown on boating while intoxicated. The operation, called “Operation Dry Water,” began June 24. Officers looked for boaters with a blood alcohol level of over .08, which is the same as the limit for drunk driving.

Alcohol and drug use are involved in 6% of all boating accidents but 17% of all boating fatalities. Last year, 322 people in New Jersey were arrested for boating while intoxicated.

If you or a family member have been seriously injured in a New Jersey boating accident, whether or not the other boater was intoxicated, contact a personal injury lawyer in Hackensack at the Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Hasson, P.C.