Although the White-Miskell Act, a law named after two young women who were killed while parasailing, was signed into law during the summer of 2014, the law has some holes. The White-Miskell Act was enacted to provide some regulation to companies that provide parasailing services to customers.
The White-Miskell Act does mandate that companies that offer parasailing services have liability insurance and have a weather radio on board the boat used for the services. The companies that operate these services cannot offer parasailing when it’s too windy, foggy, or rainy.
The use of a weather radio is vital to this business, because high wind could cause the line that connects the parasailer to the boat to suddenly break.
Before you go parasailing during your vacation, understand that the law, however, does not force parasailing companies to maintain equipment or inspect it. Parasailers are lifted up about about 200 feet in the air. According to Debbie Chalik, an attorney for a parasailing accident victim, since 1982, 72 people have died in parasailing accidents and 1,600 people have been injured.