State says Labor Day boating deaths could have been prevented

Six people died in Florida boating accidents over the Labor Day weekend, and state officials say those lives could have been saved if the victims had been wearing life jackets. Three people died last Friday night when two vessels collided near Brooks Bridge at Fort Walton Beach. On Saturday, three others died, including a father and son from Tequesta who were bass fishing in Lake Okeechobee. Later in the day, an Alabama man died after the family fishing boat capsized in the Gulf of Mexico off Indian Pass in Gulf County. No one on any of the boats involved in the three incidents over the Labor Day weekend wore a life jacket and officials say that is the problem. Overall, an estimated 60 percent of all people who die in boating accidents would survive if they wore a life jacket. So far in 2009, Florida has lost 52 people in boating accidents, and state officials believe that probably all of those deaths could have been prevented.