Personal Injury Law

Jacksonville Beach Access Denied After Boy Is Run Over

By Eddie Farah

Vehicle access to Huguenot Memorial Park in Duval County, Florida has been restricted after a five-year-old boy was run over by a truck in March.

The boy was lounging in the sand and the driver said he didn't see him. The boy was taken to the hospital and treated for a hip injury.

Huguenot Memorial Park was the only Jacksonville area beach where the public could drive on the sand.  The accident renewed the conflict between environmental purists and surfers and anglers who want beach access with their vehicles.

As it stands now, no vehicles are allowed between the line marking high tide and the water. Critics of the plan say it's exactly what the city wanted to do all along.

Bobby Taylor, a critic of the city's plans to stop vehicles on the beach says it's disrespectful to the public and those who use the park. 

"What they've effectively done is pushed everybody into a 100-foot-wide strip on that beach where they can park. So instead of solving a congestion problem, they created a congestion problem," Taylor said. "It's a pretext for what they wanted to do in the first place, which is restrict access."

While these beach restrictions are temporary, the beach access issue could be decided this year by a proposed 25-year management plan. 

That plans calls for limits to vehicles on weekends from March to September but must first go before the Jacksonville City Council for a vote and then is forwarded to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and the state for review. #

Full post as published by Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer on April 04, 2008 (boomark / email).