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Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Boating Accidents

Over the Columbus Day weekend, 29 people were involved in a single Miami Beach boating accident which killed two people and injured seven others. Here's how it happened.

Club Nautico at the Miami Beach Marina is one of the few places on Miami's South Beach where tourists can rent power boats. That weekend it had rented numerous boats to a group of friends, including a 22 foot Sea Ray which it had rented to James Noel Pou, a handsome, square-jawed 23 year old from Doral, and Monica Burguera, a slim raven haired beauty of 20 from Miami. When their boat broke down in Miami's Biscayne Bay, Club Nautico sent out another boat, operated by a 16 year old, to tow them in.

On the way in they picked up a second disabled boat, a Bayliner with seven people on board, and began to tow it at well. With one boat towing, and two boat in tow, progress was slow and darkness set in. The boats lacked proper lighting. As they were approaching the Rickenbacker Causeway, a 32 foot Intrepid, traveling at high speed, tried to cut in between the towing boat and the first disabled boat. The Intrepid was traveling so fast that it became airborne and its propellers hit both Pou and Burguera in their heads, killing them instantly. It then hit the second towed boat, injuring its seven passengers and causing one to suffer a heart attack. He remains in critical condition.

This being Miami, naturally lawsuits have been filed. The allegations are that the 16 year old who was operating the towing boat was unlicensed, had been drinking, and failed to carry proper lights on the two boats he was towing. Those charges are more easily made than they are to make stick.

For example, under admiralty law it is up to the vessel being towed to properly prepare itself for towing. Should it be different in the case of recreational vessels? If admiralty law is applied, and Pou and Burguera didn't turn their lights on, they bear part of the responsibility. If the boat wasn't equipped with running lights, or they didn't work, that is a different story. Had the 16 year old which Club Nautico send out been drinking? That may or may not be relevant. The question is did his operation of the towing boat cause or contribute to the 32 foot Intrepid running into them? If there is no causal connection between the drinking and the accident, it may not even come into evidence. This case is no slam dunk against Club Nautico, no matter how many press conferences the Plaintiff's attorneys call.

This case has all the elements of a good Plaintiff's case. Whether it results in a big Plaintiff's verdict at the end of the day depends a lot upon the skill of the attorneys and the quality of experts they hire. I learned long ago that cases that appear good at the outset can get bad quickly if you allow yourself to become overconfident.