The teenage girl who crashed the personal watercraft she was operating into a concrete dock in Fort Lauderdale’s Intracoastal Waterway on Tuesday — which killed her younger sister — was legally permitted to operate it under Florida law.
To operate a personal watercraft, a person must be at least 14 years old, but 18 years old to rent the vessel, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state law-enforcement agency investigating the crash. It is a second-degree misdemeanor to knowingly allow a person under 14 to operate a personal watercraft. Completing an education course is also required.
Aviva Bracha Nisanov, who was steering the watercraft, was 16. Her younger sister, 13-year-old Rachel Aliza Nisanov, was riding in tandem behind her and killed in the accident. The girls were on a family vacation to celebrate Rachel’s eighth-grade graduation. The family was staying at the Marriott in Fort Lauderdale and decided to take a guided personal watercraft tour.
The parents of the girls are Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov and Rebbitzin Ora Nisanov, who are prominent in Queens, New York’s Bukharian Jewish community…