EDITORIAL: Airboats still a risky way to visit Everglades | Editorial

July 27--Skimming through the Florida Everglades on an airboat is thrilling, wildly popular and occasionally deadly.

Today, it's buyer beware when signing up for an airboat tour. There's no way to know if you're placing your life in the hands of a hotdog driver or if that driver takes drugs and runs high.

Surely, state lawmakers can do more to protect residents and tourists, who fuel our economy.

The Florida Legislature tinkered with airboat safety standards this year by passing "Ellie's Law," named for Elizabeth "Ellie" Goldenberg, 22, a University of Miami student killed in an airboat accident last year. A day after graduating, she and her family were celebrating when their airboat overturned, throwing all into the water. The young grad drowned, pinned under the engine of the overturned vessel.

The driver involved in the crash allegedly tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, but authorities couldn't determine if his driving was negligent and caused the deadly accident.

This month, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission finalized new safety rules that require airboat operators to complete a training course and pass an exam that shows they can pilot the powerful craft.

But nothing takes effect until a year from now.

And no background checks or drug tests will be required.

And violating the law will be nothing more than a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of no more than $500.

A slap on the wrist for taking someone's life?

America's largest subtropical wilderness is best experienced in kayaks and canoes. But those ventures require more time and effort than the quick airboat tours operated closer to tourist hubs. So unregulated airboats remain the dominant vehicle for observing alligators and myriad threatened and endangered birds and wildlife.

Today, the only common safety measure is ear plugs or headsets to help deafen the screaming airplane-like engine attached to the flat-bottomed boats. The boats have no seatbelts, and most adults climb aboard without putting on life vests.

Operators are required to complete a general eight-hour boating safety course, but there are no mandated background checks and no education specific to airboating.

The new rules require operators to be certified in CPR and first aid, subject to a fine. The new training requires 24 hours of instruction, including 8 hours of classroom time and 14 hours on the water.

"Ellie's Law" is a start, it's just doesn't go far enough. And absent strict enforcement, it will be too easy for drivers to ignore. Goldenberg's father, David, says he intends to return to the Legislature next year to make sure the law "has some teeth."

Florida lawmakers shy away from regulations of all sorts, even when life and safety is involved. Parasailing companies killed a number of customers -- slamming them into the water, the shore or power lines -- before lawmakers finally agreed to require some safety measures, including insurance.

Airboats are also highly attractive to tourists, but regulations are needed to ensure safety for all.

A Miami New Times analysis found more than 75 accidents involving private and commercial airboats in the last three years, with seven deaths and more than 100 injuries.

Mathew Schwartz, executive director of the South Florida Wildlands Association, takes tourists on airboat rides. "Honestly, airboats are tricky to navigate," he said. The boats have no brakes, no keel, and if heavily loaded, can get unbalanced. "It takes some finesse to drive one."

That said, he accompanies tourists because it's "the amusement park ride" most of them want, the quick tour, rather than the longer, quiet kayak rides he prefers. The environmental impacts of airboats are many. The engine noise scares off birds, sometimes even nesting parents whose chicks or eggs are then vulnerable to crows. Only when operators shut off motors do tourists get to see much wildlife.

In addition, airboats carve channels through the sawgrass, changing water flows that impact the ecosystem. Designated trails would be much better, he says. He favors expanding areas protected from airboats.

The coming safety rules are a baby step toward better protecting tourists who opt to hop into airboats.

Next up should be tougher penalties for reckless drivers. No other father should face what David Goldenberg does, mourning the loss of a talented daughter just one day after graduation.

Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O'Hara, Andy Reid and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.

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