Florida has among the most registered pleasure boats and personal watercraft in the nation. It also has among the most boating accidents involving damage, injuries and death nationwide.

Liability or cause related to boating accidents often rests with others or surrounding circumstances: Other boaters, faulty or poorly maintained equipment, or construction project or other debris or apparatus in, near or unreasonably close to boating channels.

Accidents in such craft can be caused by:

• Unsafe operation
• Use by inexperienced, untrained or inappropriate operators
• Insufficient training by boat rental provider
• Poorly or unmaintained vessels, including outfitting the craft with sufficient personal floatation devices

With thousands of pleasure boats and personal watercraft made available for rental to vacationers or other novice users, it's incumbent upon the rental operator to ensure vessels are well maintained, and the users have a general and safe working knowledge of how powerboats and personal watercraft function.

If you or a loved one suffers an injury in a boating accident resulting from faulty equipment or someone else's liability or negligence, contact Chalik & Chalik to explore your rights.