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Governor, sign Lucy's Law. Florida must get boater safety laws right to avoid tragedies
Their words send me right back to the day, almost a year ago, when we lost my daughter Caitlyn's friend, Ella Adler, a student at Ransom Everglades School. The day they described sounded heartbreakingly familiar.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the water was glistening. My husband and I had spent the morning on our boat with two of our three children. Caitlyn, our oldest and almost 15 at the time, was also out on the water with eight of her closest friends.
Later that afternoon, I was driving our younger daughter to a party when I got a call from Caitlyn from the boat she was on. It was devastating. I can still hear the terror and hysteria in her voice. 'Ella! Ella! Ella!' She was on speakerphone. I tried to calm her down to understand what had happened.
The kids had been wakesurfing when another boat approached at a high speed. The oncoming boat didn't hear the blaring horn or see the girls in the water. It just swerved, hit Ella and sped away.
In 2013, more than a decade before this fateful day, the daughter of Key Biscayne's police chief was run over by a boat at the Mashta Flats and nearly died. Afterward, the entire community rallied around boat safety. We had the facts, common-sense solutions and an entire village government behind us.
We also had the support of a local foundation, the Monica Burguera Foundation, which sponsors boating certification and safety in memory of Monica, who was killed in 2006 on Biscayne Bay coming back from the Columbus Day Regatta when a boat being towed without lights was a struck by another.
But the short story is that we weren't successful — or even close. The long story is that we ran up against a regulatory morass of competing federal, state and local jurisdictions and an industry that refuses to accept even the most basic regulation around licensing and enforcement.
The first anniversary of Ella's death is approaching, and it's tragic that it has taken this long for sensible regulations to become reality. We need stronger and more impactful boating safety enforcement. There is too much drinking and boating. We need licensing for everyone, not just those born after 1988. The drivers of the boats that killed Ella and Lucy were much older and wouldn't qualify under current licensing laws.
The good news is that, guided by Lucy's parents, the Florida House and Senate have passed Lucy's Law. The law enhances boater safety and increases penalties for dangerous boating. Lucy's Law is the product of an incredible amount of work and an important step forward.
In addition, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, alongside the Lucy Fernandez Foundation, has created a special Boater Safety and Bay Education Task Force to educate the public on safe and responsible recreation.
I am hopeful these actions will help prevent another unnecessary tragedy. I urge Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign Lucy's Law.
Until there is a change, we will continue to lose bright lights — like Ella, Lucy and Monica — who I know would have made our world a better place.
Melissa White is the executive director of the Key Biscayne Community Foundation and a resident of Key Biscayne.
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