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Parasail Operators Face New Regulations

Loren Sztajer
/
Flickr CC

A new law mandating several safety measures for the parasailing industry went into effect on October 1.

The White-Miskell Act is named for Kathleen Miskell and Amber White. They lost their lives in two separate parasailing accidents in Pompano Beach.

Miskell died in 2012, and White died in 2007.

"It was so tragic and so unfortunate and so unnecessary," says Delray Beach State Senator Maria Sachs.

"So after this occurred in my district, it became personal to me," says Sachs. "It became a mission."

Sachs says the state Legislature had been trying to put regulations in place for the industry for more than 15 years without any success. But that all changed this year.

Sachs made sure lawmakers heard from the families of those who had died, as well as from victims who had been injured in parasailing accidents, including a teenage girl who was videotaped slamming into a condo in the Panhandle.

"Well, I think part of it is that they had to see and experience for themselves the young kids who went through such traumatic injuries because of a lack or regulations," Sachs says.

The Democrat also credits bipartisanship and the industry. She says parasailing operators helped write the regulations, and that there are plenty of good operators out there.

"I know this because I'm going up in a parasail this week, and I know that if I can do it, it's a safe thing to do," she says.

The new law requires parasail companies to carry hefty insurance policies, and operators have to be licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard. They also have to closely monitor the weather and are prohibited from operating under adverse conditions.

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