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Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Boating Accidents

In the past five years 44 year old Roland Rogers of Clearwater Beach gotten rich. He has built or partnered in about 20 developments on Clearwater Beach and has acquired land for two planned four-star hotels. Life is good.

That life almost came to an end last Saturday, due in large part to the failure of the City of Clearwater to light its jetty.

It was a moonless Clearwater night, and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico were flat and glassy. "It's like I often tell people, it's paradise here, even after the sun goes down."

It was late at night, about 1:45 a.m. when Rogers was returning from fishing in the Gulf. As he approached Clearwater Pass at about 25 mph, he hit the rock jetty. First, he was thrown into the center console of the boat. The center console ripped free and he was hurtled 35 feet through the air. He landed on the rocks, but he never lost consciousness.

Lying on the rocks he reached into his pocket, took out his still working cell phone, and dialed 911. Clearwater Fire Department rescue workers and the United States Coast Guard responded, loading him into an inflatable Coast Guard boat. He was taken to Morton Plant Hospital where they have him 15 stitches on his forehead and another 30 on his knee.

So who's at fault? As I've said in Court many times (and have been awarded $19.5 million in damages in one case), and in this blog, if you own or are responsible for an obstruction on or near a waterway, you need to light it and light it well. There may not be a regulation to light it. You may not be cited if you don't, but you are going to hurt somebody.