Fort Lauderdale Jet Ski Crash Kills 13-Year-Old Girl: A Preventable Maritime Tragedy

Another heartbreaking accident off the coast of Florida occurred this week. A 13-year-old girl and her 16-year-old sister were both on a personal watercraft when they collided with a seawall. The younger sister died from her injuries. The 16-year-old is still in the hospital. This entirely preventable tragedy demands accountability.

What happened: The August 12 crash

Calls to 911 started to come in at around 3:30 p.m. on August 12, 2025. According to reports, the sisters, who were visiting from New York, were in the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale, and riding tandem on a personal watercraft (PWC). They appeared to be jumping a wake before they lost control of the PWC and struck a dock. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is now investigating the crash.

Who rented the PWCs

Prime Water Sports, a rental company in Fort Lauderdale, rented two PWCs to the family. The parents were on one of the vessels, the girls were on another, and a guide was on a third. According to the company owner, the girls had no experience operating PWCs but had taken a legally required online boater safety course. Reports indicate that the company is cooperating with the FWC investigation.

Legal and safety concerns raised by the crash

Florida law requires training for PWC renters, and no one under 14 is allowed to operate one of these vessels. Anyone born after 1988 must take the online safety course. However, there are serious questions regarding whether the online safety course is enough. PWCs are notoriously dangerous. According to statistics, 47 people were killed in 2023 while using PWCs. Another 527 suffered injuries, meaning that the risks associated with these watercraft are well-known and documented. It’s not clear whether the family received proper hands-on instruction.

Attorney Jack Hickey gave a statement on the case to The Miami Herald, in which he explained some of the reasons PWCs are so dangerous and why proper training is so important. In fact, Florida Law requires that rental companies instruct and train anyone who rents a PWC, like a Jet Ski, before they allow that person to take out the vessel.

There are three key reasons that these vessels are so dangerous:

1)   They are fast

Jet skis accelerate and go incredibly fast. Even “beginner” models can exceed 50 mph. At those speeds, there isn’t much room for errors.

2)   They don’t have brakes

Without brakes, learning to stop is particularly challenging. PWCs also take a lot of time to slow down, meaning riders will cover a lot of distance before they’re able to stop. The PWC may travel as much as 250 feet before stopping if it’s moving at high speeds.

3)   Personal watercraft don’t turn unless you give them gas

This feature can feel counterintuitive for new operators. Giving something gas when you are approaching a seawall or object doesn’t feel right. For this reason, it’s critical to train, train, train. Just showing a video to a young or inexperienced operator is not enough. Companies which offer tours and rentals are required by Florida law to instruct and train all operators before the operator gets on the machine. Instruction and training means to tell, show, and have the operator do, over and over, the acts of slowing, stopping, and turning.  And it means doing that repetitively so that even the youngest, least experienced can operate this machine safely. Without full and proper instruction and training, this tragedy happens.

As a maritime injury law firm, we see this over and over again and have handled numerous personal watercraft cases all over Florida and other states.

Legal advocacy and what families can do

Families who lose someone and individuals who suffer injuries while using PWC may have legal options. However, when these types of tragedies occur on navigable waters, as this one did, maritime law applies rather than state negligence laws. This can complicate the legal battle as maritime law has its own set of rules. In these situations, it’s critical that families turn to a lawyer who has experience specifically in litigating maritime law cases.

Hickey Law Firm: Dedicated maritime law specialists

This tragedy is sadly not a lone case of unnecessary loss of life on Florida’s coastal waters. Too many people are injured or killed when they should be enjoying time with family and friends. Better safety standards and enforcement could help reduce these types of incidents, but it’s also clear that those responsible must be held accountable for their actions or failure to act.

At Hickey Law Firm, maritime law specialist Jack Hickey has been handling these cases for decades. He is dedicated to fighting on behalf of those injured in maritime accidents and for the families who suffer unbearable losses in fatal boat crashes. Jack is Board Certified in Admiralty & Maritime Law by The Florida Bar, a Board Certified Trial Lawyer by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA), and a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer by The Florida Bar.

If you need a strong, experienced legal advocate to represent you in a maritime law matter, reach out to us today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with an attorney.