JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With summer around the corner, many families are hitting the water on their boats, and a new Florida law aims to prevent tragedies caused by driving or boating under the influence.
On Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed “Trenton’s Law” into effect. This law will increase penalties for repeat offenders of DUI or BUI manslaughter and other similar offenses.
The law was named after Trenton Stewart, a St. Johns County teen who was killed by a drunk driver in May of 2023.
Hundreds of boats traveled along the St. Johns River for Boater Skip Day this week.
According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, there were 21 arrests connected to the event last year. This year, the event saw eight people arrested, most of which were for Boating Under the Influence.
No one was seriously injured, but “Trenton’s Law” aims to keep people from making those mistakes and strengthens the punishment for those who make them multiple times.
Tyler Barrus is the lead instructor with the Freedom Boat Club. He’s worked in the Coast Guard and Marine Units, helping in search and rescue and law enforcement.
“Your reaction time changes. Everything changes,” Barrus said. “It goes right 90%, 95% of the time, but when it’s wrong, it goes catastrophically wrong.”
In 2024, the FWC reported 685 boating accidents, and 76 of those were deadly.
Alcohol or drug use played a role in 36% of those accidents.
“Roughly two hours on the water is roughly the same as having a cocktail. It’s just not caused by alcohol. Now you add alcohol to that it just puts your body at a high high stress level,” Barrus said.
Trenton’s Law will focus on cracking down on repeat offenders by increasing penalties from second to first-degree felonies for anyone with a previous conviction for manslaughter or homicide while driving a car or boat under the influence.
News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney said that gives law enforcement extra leverage to keep people from breaking the law again.
And while the law addresses incidents with tragic outcomes, Hackney said the hope is that prevents people from getting behind the wheel at all.
“Don’t do it. If you’ve had one too many and you know what that is. Don’t do it,” Hackney said.
With summer around the corner, experts said people should make sure they factor the heat into any decisions to get behind the wheel of any vehicle.
The new will go into effect on Oct. 1.
