Dangers of Driving on the Beach Put Into Spotlight in Florida

While the practice of driving on a beautiful beach may be fun, it also comes with its own set of risks. Two recent incidents in Florida have highlighted the dangers of beach driving. Here is a look at the risks associated with this practice.

Two Recent Accidents Involving Vehicles on Beaches in Florida

The most recent beach driving incident happened on April 5 in Ormond Beach when 33-year-old Coleson Janey of Ocala was hit by a Jeep backing out of a parking spot. Janey was sunbathing face-down on the beach when a car tire ran over his head. He suffered a broken femur and forearm and bruises to the face. The 61-year-old female driver was issued a citation for careless driving.

Going back to February, a 71-year-old woman from New York was sitting in a beach chair at Daytona Beach when a pickup truck also ran over her head. She was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries while the 84-year-old driver claimed that she did not even realize that she had struck a beachgoer.

There are just a few areas left in the U.S. that allow beach driving. In Florida, the practice is primarily limited to the East Coast in popular areas such as New Smyrna Beach and Daytona Beach. These stretches of sand have rules in place to promote safer driving. These rules include bans on loud music, speed limits of 10 mph, and designated driving zones and times.

While the two recent incidents have not resulted in death, that has not always been the case. A four-year-old boy from Deltona, Florida, was killed in July of 2010 when he was hit by a pickup truck on New Smyrna Beach. Aiden Patrick's father said that he had gone to wash his hands and his son ran toward him into the path of the truck.

Patrick was struck by the right front tire of the moving vehicle. The boy was pronounced dead at the hospital. The driver did not face charges as he was following the rules and not speeding. The boy's family sued the county, alleging that they did not take appropriate safety measures, however, the judge ruled in favor of the county.

Earlier in 2010, another four-year-old was killed in March after being hit by a car at Daytona Beach. The family of Ellie Bland from Britain did not sue.

More recently on Memorial Day weekend of 2024, a Volusia County beach safety officer traveling in a marked truck hit two 18-year-old females visiting from Kissimmee. The most seriously injured woman suffered multiple fractures, a lacerated liver, and several facial injuries.

The investigation revealed that the officer was speaking with another beach safety official and violated the rules by not surveying the area surrounding his truck before beginning to drive.

Understanding the Scope of Beach Driving Accidents

Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine the true scope of beach accidents as they are not as well tracked as standard vehicular collisions. In addition, the incidents are not reported on a national scale.

Officials and the media in Volusia County have tracked these numbers on their own, painting a grim picture of the impact of vehicles on beaches. In the year 2010, the Palm Beach Post reported that there were 49 beach accidents over the last 15 years in which a pedestrian or sunbather was either killed or injured.

Also in 2010, a Daytona Beach News-Journal story detailed that most people hit by vehicles on the beach were not pedestrians. Instead, most of the collisions involved people who were hit while lying on the beach or sitting in a chair. Roughly one-third of the accidents happened when the vehicles were traveling in reverse.

Humans are not the only beings put at risk by beach drivers. Homeowners in American Beach, Florida, have plans to sue officials in Nassau County in an effort to protect the lives of loggerhead and sea turtle hatchlings from beach drivers. These animals tend to lay their eggs on the dunes in the beach areas of the popular tourist destination.

In addition to the handful of beaches in Florida that allow beach driving, you can drive vehicles on the sand at Freeman Park in North Carolina, parts of the Texas Gulf Coast, the Tierra Del Mar region of Oregon, and Washington state's Long Beach Peninsula.

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