Divers-down flags now ‘warning devices’ under law

A divers-down flag — iconic symbol of the underwater sport — no longer is defined as a flag under Florida law.

The red-and-white flags remain perfectly legal to use aboard a boat carrying divers, or towed by a diver in the water. However, dive flags and inflatable buoys with the symbol now are classified as a “divers-down warning device” by a law that took effect July 1.

Senate Bill 846, filed by Palm Beach County’s Sen. Joseph Abruzzo (D), aims to “expand the types of devices that divers must use to alert vessels that submerged divers are in the area.... This new term will provide divers with additional choices for signaling to boaters that there are divers in the water,” says a Florida Senate analysis.

Robert Carmichael, chief executive officer of Brownie’s Marine Group Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, praises the change as an advance in dive-safety gear. “The current technology of the single-dimension flag is totally inadequate,” Carmichael said Thursday.

“We all know the dive flag simply does not work when it gets blown parallel to the wind,” he said. “A lot of other boats can’t see it. There’s nothing good about that.”

The new law will "encourage innovation and competition in the marketplace,” Carmichael said. “All kinds of new ideas will pop up.”

Brownie’s Marine has its 3DBuoy, a three-sided inflatable buoy displaying the diver-down symbol on all sides.

In 2014, state Rep. Holly Raschein (R-Key Largo) and Abruzzo tweaked the dive-flag law to allow a cube-like floating device to qualify as a legal device for tow by divers. The Goumba 360 was one of the first such devices on the market.

"This is the first phase of changing to much smarter devices that perform better for divers and boaters," Carmichael said.

The newl law also drops the requirement that dive flags have a metal “stiffener” as long as they are “constructed to ensure that the flag remains fully unfurled and extended in absence of wind.”

Buoyed diver-down warning devices used in the water by divers must have a 12-inch-by-12-inch symbol but no longer have to be physically towed by the divers. Diver warnings carried on a boat must have a 20-inch-by-24-inch diver flag or device (not a buoy) displayed high enough to be visible.

Locator discount

A new law that took effect July 1 also provides a discount on 2016-17 Florida recreational boat registration for owners who can show he or she has a government-registered EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon) device, or a personal locator beacon.

For example, fees for boats from 16 to 25 feet, fees will drop $3.92 to $24.83. Registration for boats 26 to 40 feet long drop $9.69 to $69.56. Discounts expire in July 2017 unless renewed.

This story was originally published July 9, 2016 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Divers-down flags now ‘warning devices’ under law."