{"id":276028,"date":"2026-05-19T02:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/276028\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T02:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:18:15","slug":"jacksonville-leaders-promote-boating-safety-as-accidents-rise-statewide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/276028\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville leaders promote boating safety as accidents rise statewide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida\u2019s increasingly crowded waterways had 694 \u201creportable\u201d boating accidents<\/a> in 2025, up from 685 in 2024 and 659 in 2023, according to a state report released Monday.<\/p>\n

Included in the annual Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission\u2019s Boating Accident Statistical Report were 51 fatalities that were the results of 41 incidents, down from 81 deaths involving 76 accidents in 2024.<\/p>\n

In Jacksonville, the Sheriff\u2019s Office marine unit handled nearly 1,000 calls for service last year, Lt. Kevin Kilcoyne said during a news conference<\/a> promoting National Safe Boating Week and Manatee Awareness.<\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Office patrols about 75 square miles of navigable waterways in Duval County. Kilcoyne said officers will step up enforcement this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be enforcing the slow speed zones, the manatee protection zones and other applicable laws, including boating under the influence,\u201d Kilcoyne said.<\/p>\n

Nadia Lentz, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said FWC has responded to nine manatee mortalities in Duval County so far this year, including three linked to watercraft.<\/p>\n

Jerry Pinto of Jacksonville University\u2019s Marine Science Research Institute said recent aerial surveys show \u201cprobably in excess of 100 manatees already in the county,\u201d mostly south of the Buckman Bridge. He advised boaters to be vigilant.<\/p>\n

Duval County is rated 45th\u00a0in state in number of boating incidents in 2004, FWC says. About 28,000 boats are registered in Duval County.<\/p>\n

A recent report noted 16 boating accidents, seven injuries and two deaths in Duval County.<\/p>\n

Fifty-eight percent of the people involved in boating accidents were not wearing personal flotation devices, the report said.<\/p>\n

Statewide, Florida has nearly 1.03 million registered vessels, and up to 1 million nonregistered vessels actively using Florida\u2019s waters, according to the FWC report.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlorida waterways show signs of congestion as each year brings more residents and visitors together to use abundant water resources and enjoy Florida\u2019s boating lifestyle,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

The commission\u2019s Division of Law Enforcement report listed drowning as the cause of just over half the 2025 deaths; 10 deaths resulted from an individual falling overboard. The next highest cause of death was a collision with a fixed object, with eight.<\/p>\n

Most boats involved in a fatal accident were 21 feet or fewer. Most boat operators involved in fatal accidents were aged 35 or older.<\/p>\n

Alcohol or drugs played a role in 14% of the boating fatalities.<\/p>\n

Personal watercraft, which account for 17% of Florida\u2019s registered vessels, were involved in 12 deaths.<\/p>\n

There were 161 accidents involving personal watercraft, accounting for 23% of all \u201creportable\u201d crashes. Nearly half, 72, of the personal watercraft accidents involved a collision with another vessel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s increasingly crowded waterways had 694 \u201creportable\u201d boating accidents in 2025, up from 685 in 2024 and 659…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-276028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}