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(813) 871-1300 
A day on Tampa Bay should end at the dock with sunburn and fish stories. When someone else’s carelessness turns it into a trip to Tampa General Hospital, Mickey Keenan, P.A. steps in to handle the insurance calls and the fight over fault. Our Tampa boat accident lawyer team builds your claim while you rest and follow your doctor’s plan.
Call (813) 871-1300 now for an honest look at what your case involves. We answer the phone 24 hours a day, and your first consultation is free.
Why Injured Boaters Turn to Mickey Keenan, P.A.
As a former insurance defense lawyer, Mickey Keenan learned how carriers value injury claims and when an offer falls short of the real harm. Today he uses that inside knowledge for injured people, and our team brings more than 20 years of experience to injury claims across Florida.
Our firm belongs to the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and 314 clients have left us five-star Google reviews. Every client gets Mickey’s personal cell phone number, so questions go straight to the person handling the case.
Our motto is simple: your fight is our fight. You’re not a file number, you’re a person whose life was disrupted. When an insurer’s offer falls short of the harm you suffered, our Tampa boating accident attorney team prepares the case for trial.
Commitment, loyalty, integrity, and a willingness to fight guide how we handle every case from our offices in Tampa, Riverview, Largo, and The Villages. Call (813) 871-1300 and tell us what happened on the water, and we will give you a straight answer about your options.
What Kinds of Boat Accidents Happen Around Tampa Bay?
Most boating injuries around Tampa come from a few repeat scenarios. The type of wreck often points straight to the person or company responsible, and the ones we handle most include:
- Boat-to-boat collisions in busy channels
- Crashes into docks, seawalls, bridge pilings, or channel markers
- Passengers thrown overboard during sharp turns or hard wakes
- Propeller strikes on swimmers and divers
- Personal watercraft wrecks
- Tubing, water-skiing, and wakeboarding injuries
- Fuel fires and engine explosions
- Capsizing or swamping in rough weather
Local conditions add risk on top of human error. Specifically, holiday weekends near Davis Islands and the Gasparilla boat parade crowd the water with first-time skippers, and the shallow flats near Apollo Beach hide sandbars that can stop a boat cold.
Negligent Causes Behind Tampa Boating Accidents
Most serious boat accidents in Tampa trace back to a choice someone made at the helm or at the dock. Every operator must run a vessel in a reasonable and prudent way, including watching for other boats, posted speed and wake limits, and divers-down flags, under Florida Statutes Section 327.33.
Falling short of that standard counts as careless operation. Willful disregard for safety becomes reckless operation, which is a crime in Florida.
The unsafe choices behind the collisions we investigate include:
- Speeding through idle-speed and no-wake zones
- Operating a boat after drinking or using drugs
- Failing to keep a proper lookout
- Texting or scrolling a phone at the wheel
- Running a boat without Florida’s required boating safety course
- Loading more people than the capacity plate allows
- Ignoring worn steering cables, throttles, or fuel lines
- Leaving the dock with missing or broken life jackets
- Heading out despite storm warnings
Officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) investigate many serious collisions and may write citations for these violations. A citation helps a civil claim, though your case can move forward without one.
How Florida Negligence Law Applies on the Water
Negligence means a person failed to use the care that a reasonable person would use in the same situation. To recover money, you show that someone’s carelessness caused your injuries and the losses that followed. Florida also divides blame when more than one person made a mistake.
A jury gives each party a percentage of fault, known as comparative fault, and your award drops by your share, under Florida Statutes Section 768.81. If you are found more than 50% at fault for your own injuries, you cannot recover anything.
For example, a passenger found 20% at fault for riding on the bow at speed would see a $100,000 award reduced to $80,000. Questions about where a passenger sat and whether anyone was drinking often come up when an insurer evaluates fault. Our Tampa boat accident lawyer team answers those arguments with evidence showing where the fault truly belongs.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Tampa Boat Crash?
The operator usually carries the most responsibility, but owners, rental businesses, and manufacturers can share it. Florida treats every boat as a dangerous instrumentality, meaning the law sees vessels as capable of serious harm and requires operators to use the highest degree of care, under Florida Statutes Section 327.32.
The same law says an owner who was not on board usually is not liable for someone else’s careless driving. Florida courts have still held owners and rental businesses responsible for their own negligence, such as renting a boat to a visibly drunk customer in Boland v. Suncoast Rent-A-Scooter. Depending on the facts, the parties we look at include:
- Boat Operators: The person at the helm answers for speed, lookout, and sobriety.
- Boat Owners: An owner who hands the keys to an untrained or impaired driver can be liable for that decision. An owner who was aboard during the wreck faces broader exposure.
- Rental and Charter Businesses: Companies that rent boats or personal watercraft must follow Florida’s safety rules for rental operations. Skipping required safety instruction can make them responsible.
- Manufacturers: A defective throttle, steering system, or fuel line can cause a wreck by itself. Product claims can run alongside the negligence case.
- Marinas and Repair Shops: Faulty repairs or unsafe fueling can set up a fire or collision. Their work orders often become key evidence.
Identifying every insurance policy early can change how much coverage is available. Our Tampa Bay accident attorneys investigate all potential sources of recovery.
How Our Team Proves Fault
Step one is preserving evidence before it is lost. We send letters demanding that owners keep the boats, GPS data, and maintenance records, and we request the FWC accident report. Specifically, we interview passengers and nearby boaters, gather phone video and dock camera footage, and review toxicology results.
When the facts are disputed, our Tampa boat accident lawyer team works with marine accident reconstruction professionals and boat mechanics. Share what you remember about the collision with us, and we can start requesting those records right away.
What Compensation Can You Recover After a Boating Injury?
You can pursue payment for the money the accident cost you, and for the ways it changed your daily life. Florida’s No-Fault Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage, including its 14-day treatment rule, applies to car wrecks and does not cover boat accidents.
Your claim goes directly against the at-fault party and their insurance, and depending on the facts, it may include:
- Medical Bills: Ambulance rides, surgery, hospital stays, and physical therapy all count toward medical costs. Care your doctors expect you to need later belongs in the claim too.
- Lost Wages: Missed paychecks are recoverable. If the injury keeps you from returning to the same work, we factor in reduced earning power.
- Pain and Suffering: Physical pain, anxiety around the water, and lost enjoyment of life carry real value.
- Scarring and Disfigurement: Propeller injuries and burns can leave permanent marks.
- Property Damage: Your boat, phone, fishing gear, and other lost belongings.
- Wrongful Death Damages: When a crash takes a life, surviving family members may recover funeral costs, lost support, and the loss of companionship.
Our Tampa Bay boat crash attorney team values a claim based on your records and your doctors’ opinions about the future. Ask us for an honest estimate once your treatment picture comes into focus.
How Long Do You Have to File a Hillsborough County Boating Injury Claim?
Florida law gives you two years from the collision to file most boating injury claims. That deadline comes from Florida Statutes Section 95.11. Wrongful death claims also carry a two-year limit, counted from the date of death.
Federal maritime law, the federal rules for accidents on navigable waters, can change the clock. A collision on navigable waters like Tampa Bay or the Gulf may qualify for the three-year federal deadline for maritime injury claims, under 46 U.S.C. Section 30106. In contrast, a wreck on a small landlocked lake near our Villages office usually stays under the state rule.
Boat owners sometimes file a special case in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, asking to cap their liability at the boat’s value after the crash. The judge then sets a short deadline for injured people to file claims in that case, and missing it can put your recovery at risk. Our Hillsborough County boating injury lawyer team plans around the shortest deadline that could apply.
State court cases here go to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County, or to the Sixth Judicial Circuit when a case belongs in Pinellas County near our Largo office. If your crash happened more than a year ago, call us this week so we can confirm which clock applies.
FAQs: Tampa Boat Accident Lawyer
Families often ask these questions once the first shock of a boat crash wears off.
Can You File a Claim if a Friend or Relative Was Driving?
You can usually file a claim when a friend or relative was driving, and it typically goes to the boat owner’s insurance policy. Boat policies, and some homeowners policies with watercraft coverage, pay for this exact situation.
Should You Give a Recorded Statement to Another Boater’s Insurer?
Waiting to give a recorded statement to another boater’s insurer until you have spoken with us is usually the safer choice. Early details, given before you know how badly you are hurt, can shape how fault is assigned later. We can handle that call for you.
What Happens if an Uninsured Operator Hits Your Boat?
Florida does not require most recreational boat owners to carry liability insurance, so this happens more than people expect. Your own boat policy may include uninsured boater coverage, and other parties, such as a rental company or marina, may carry policies of their own. We check every possible source.
Can You Still Recover if You Were Not Wearing a Life Jacket?
Not wearing a life jacket usually does not stop you from recovering. The defense may argue that a life jacket would have lessened your injuries, and a jury could reduce your award for that reason. Skipping a life jacket did not cause the other boat to hit you, and the person who caused the crash still answers for it.
What Does Hiring Our Firm Cost?
No upfront fees, you pay nothing unless you win. We work on a contingency fee, which means we are paid a percentage of the recovery only if we win your case.
Can Our Tampa Boat Accident Lawyer Help if You Were Visiting From Out of State?
Our Tampa boat accident lawyer team can help if you were visiting from out of state. Because the crash happened in Florida, the case can proceed in a Florida court, and we can handle most of the work by phone and video while you recover at home.
Get Back on Solid Ground With a Tampa Boat Accident Lawyer
Missed shifts and an adjuster pushing for a quick signature can pile up fast after a boating injury. Mickey Keenan, P.A. takes that weight off your shoulders, from the first evidence request through the last negotiation. Call our boat accident lawyer Tampa, FL team at (813) 871-1300 or visit our Tampa, Riverview, Largo, or Villages office to start your free consultation.