Divers hit by speeding boat off Hollywood Beach

[DennisS]

Why not just make it a law to not be stupid and injure or kill yourself?
- or -
perhaps we already have plenty of laws. Indeed, we need to junk about 80% of the ones already out there and enforce what's left.
Better yet, instill respect and kindness in society and junk 99% of 'em.
Rick (for freedom)

Licenses are not a cure for stupidity, arrogance and attitude. I think down here in south Florida, these are a much bigger problem than ignorance of what a dive flag is. There are boaters that know what the flags are and consider them an inconvenience, not worth altering their course.

We just finished dive flag awareness week in the state of Florida

If people start clamoring for more rules we will get them. No shore diving further than 100 yards off of a public beach. It will be considered too dangerous, due to boat traffic.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Right, like an apology would make it better. To me, that apology is an admission of guilt.

 

[joystershell]

Unbelievable! And to happen at the conclusion of Dive Flag Awareness Week, when we were trying to educate the boating public to prevent these types of accidents.

 

[djtimmy77]

I would gladly accept an increase to boat licensing fees if it would go towards alcohol checkpoints at the inlets (and random alcohol checks out in the ocean/intracoastal/etc)

Alcohol and boating really don't mix in my opinion, although all too many people believe the opposite.

 

[deepstops]

Do those licenses happen to require knowledge about the Diver Down flag?

What about out of state tourists?

And jet skis?

The original target audience for the boating license were younger PWC riders.

And yes, there's a section about and questions on the test related to the divers down flag.

I don't believe tourists are required to have one (but I'm not 100% sure there).

 

[qrpc]

While we need more dive flag awareness, some boaters have no awareness whatsoever.

Years ago I had a very near miss while fishing with my father in a small boat. The much larger faster boat was towing a water skiier (in a popular fishing area) and everyone on the boat was looking aft at the skiier. Luckily, my fater managed to start the engine on the first pull.

 

[Zieg]

Don’t just assume that the boater was drunk or didn’t know what the flag meant.

Personally I believe that in most of the cases, the one driving the boat was simply not paying attention and looking for flags. Think about it. From some of those cattle boats doing drift dives, just how many flags do they have out and how spread out are they? Boaters along the coast, near the beach really have to watch out for people, flags, small boats, rafts, yaks, and lobster trap buoys.

Please, I’m not making excuses for the boaters, just trying to point out that it is not always the case of a drunken boater or a boater who doesn’t know. I’ve seen plenty of diver boats run extremely close to another’s flag simply because they did not see it.

On another note: I, for one, do not want to submit to alcohol checkpoints at the inlets or anywhere else. There are already random checks out in the ocean/intracoastal/etc for lifejackets, undersize fish, illegal lobster, etc now. If you don’t have a reason to suspect me, leave me alone.

 

[flyingron]

Do those licenses happen to require knowledge about the Diver Down flag?

What about out of state tourists?

And jet skis?

I've been a boat owner, and other than what I've voluntarily learned about anything, nobody has even suggested (not the guy I bought the boat from, not the Marina that I had her outfitted in, not the State Wildlife agent I got the registration from, etc...) ever suggested I learn anything about boating or the laws in the process.

On the other hand, when renting a boat in Hawaii, they made sure that I read a basic rules of the sea class, operating instruction for the boat, and what a diver flag was and rules for operating in vicinity of whales.

I suspect highly this guy owned the boat in question.

 

[Rick Murchison]

We must be very very careful when raising our voices... for example, part of the Alabama law already on the books reads:
"Scuba divers and snorkelers should not place a flag in an area already occupied by other boaters or where their diving operation will impede the normal flow of waterway traffic."
This wording is intended to keep divers out of the middle of narrow channels, where it would be impossible for boats to (legally) proceed were there a flag in the middle, but it could easily be interpreted by local LE to simply mean you can't dive where there's commonly a lot of boat traffic.
It's a matter of "who decides?" - and we need to remember there are far more boaters in LE than divers.
Rick

 

[flyingron]

Right, like an apology would make it better. To me, that apology is an admission of guilt.

This is the real disturbing part. Being a dumbass and ignoring or missing the flag and hitting the divers is an accident. Leaving the scene of injured divers after knowing what happened is the CRIMINAL part.