Do you park on a playground? Do you drive on a football field? Normal streets have curbs and lines, crosswalks and police that enforce the rules. Hitchhikers are no longer allowed on interstates.
The line between where cars operate versus where people are allowed has gotten more distinct — except on the beaches of Volusia County. Many people have died or been seriously injured as a result.
There is something liberating about a beach, which is why so many songs have been written about the sandy shore. Even in 1939, the Florida Supreme Court recognized the beach as a special place, writing, "There is probably no custom more universal, more natural or more ancient, on the sea-coasts, not only of the Unites States, but of the world, than that bathing in the salt waters of the ocean and the enjoyment of the wholesome recreation incident thereto."
It accordingly held that even where the beach is used as a public highway, the paramount use belongs to the public. Thinking about it just makes you want to experience "How Forever Feels," as Kenny Chesney described it 60 years later, "Big orange ball, sinkin' in the water. Toes in the sand, couldn't get much hotter."
I appreciate and often am in the position to protect heritage and understand that argument in support of beach driving. However, the true heritage in Florida is in protecting the public.
Tourism is Florida's biggest business, with an estimated 86 million visitors in 2011. And yet, 13 women have been run over by lifeguards across the state. The public has collided with scores of others, killing several. That can't be good for tourism.
We live in an age where attention spans have decreased vastly. Florida does not require drivers to have insurance to protect others for injuries they may cause. Texting and driving is legal. Vehicles are quieter and larger.
Despite collecting millions per year off tolls, Volusia County has failed to provide ample regulation of the lanes of traffic or even abide by its own regulation, running over several women in violation of its own rules and policies. A government can further hide behind the protections of sovereign immunity, which puts up barriers and limits on any real accountability no matter how much devastation they cause or fail to prevent. The danger and lack of safeguards are heading in a tragic direction.
The Volusia County Beach Patrol has run over six women during the last several years. Yet, it is charged with responsibility for keeping the line between the highway and playground safe? Meanwhile, at least 50 people have been injured and at least 9 have been killed over the past couple of decades, including two four-year-olds recently.
It's easy to blame the parents or cite carelessness, but isn't the beach supposed to be carefree?
The fact is, Florida leads worldwide in another unfortunate statistic — injuries and deaths by automobiles on beaches. And Volusia County is by far the standout leader and shining example of gross lack of accountability. It offers virtually no protection, virtually no accountability and Band-aid responses to the serious harm occurring on its beaches.
It is time for that tradition to end, or for Volusia County to stop the rhetoric and do more to prevent so much loss of limb and life. Empty promises and toothless policies are only going to lead to more bloodshed.
Those who sit idly by should have to experience how a different kind of "Forever Feels." My client, Erin Joynt, will forever feel pain, hearing loss, nerve damage and facial paralysis. Her daughter may forever feel the horror of seeing her mother run over. The family of the children that died will forever feel horror no money can replace. No one is going to sing about that side of it.
Unless Volusia is going to adequately protect those in harm's way, I say beach driving needs to be a thing of the past.
John Phillips is a Jacksonville attorney representing Erin Joynt, who was struck last year by a Volusia County Beach Patrol truck while she was sunbathing in Daytona Beach.
