Fire rescue divers searched a car that had gone into a golf course pond in Kings Point, the 55-and-over community in western Delray Beach, early Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, after a person found nearby said as many as six people may have been inside. They found no one in the car or the water. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office later said the 19-year-old driver had been doing doughnuts on the golf course before the car went into the pond, and that he and three passengers got out, WPBF 25 News reported. The passengers ran off, and the driver was arrested on a criminal mischief charge.
Everyone in this car got out. People in a sinking car usually have about a minute to escape, and the steps that work are not the ones most people would try first. Below is what was reported, the escape method water-rescue researchers teach, and how Florida law treats passengers hurt when a driver loses control. For crashes on the road, our guide to Delray Beach car accident claims explains how fault and filing deadlines work.
If you were hurt in a crash in Delray Beach, The Datny Law Firm can help. You can reach David 24/7 at 561-221-7474 or by chat. Consultations are FREE, and you pay nothing unless we recover compensation.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue is dispatched to a car in the water in the 6500 block of Flanders Way, near the Flanders Clubhouse.
Rescue swimmers are in the pond within a minute. The dive team deploys while other crews search the shoreline.
Rescuers find one person near the pond, who says as many as six people may have been in the car and believes everyone got out. That person is taken to Delray Medical Center.
Divers find no one in or around the submerged car, and fire rescue turns the scene over to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office says deputies were called about a reckless driver doing doughnuts and damaging the greens, that the 19-year-old driver and three passengers got out, and that the driver was arrested.
Based on Palm Beach County Fire Rescue and Sheriff’s Office statements reported by BocaNewsNow, WPBF 25 News and CBS12.
What Happened at Kings Point?
Kings Point is a 55-and-over community off West Atlantic Avenue, with condominium neighborhoods, clubhouses and golf courses, along with the ponds that come with them. The call went out as a car in a canal, but crews found the car almost completely underwater in a pond on the golf course, and divers confirmed no one was trapped inside.
In an update released around midday, the sheriff’s office said deputies had gone to the golf course on reports of a reckless driver doing doughnuts and tearing up the greens before the car crashed into the pond. Based on an eyewitness account, deputies said the 19-year-old driver got out with three passengers, who then fled. The driver was evaluated at Delray Medical Center for exposure to pond water and, after medical clearance, booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on a criminal mischief charge under § 806.13. WPBF’s updated report says the man taken to the hospital is the same man who was arrested, which makes him the driver. An arrest is an accusation, not a conviction.
Early reports put as many as six people in the car, while the sheriff’s office account describes four. Details may change as the investigation continues.
How Long Do You Have to Get Out of a Sinking Car?
Short answer: about a minute. In a 2010 study published in Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, University of Manitoba physiologist Gordon Giesbrecht and Gerren McDonald found that cars floated for 15 to 63 seconds before the water reached the bottom of the side windows. That is the window for getting out. Once the water is above the windows, outside pressure pins the doors shut and can keep a window from opening. Statistics compiled by Giesbrecht put the toll at about 400 deaths a year in submerged vehicles across North America, according to the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch.
Florida has had more of these deaths than any other state. Federal Highway Administration figures reported by the Miami Herald show 179 deaths in Florida from 2014 to 2018 in crashes involving partially or fully submerged vehicles, the most of any state and more than twice California’s 72. Palm Beach County alone has more than 300 miles of canals, and an Associated Press report in 2019 counted 181 people who had drowned in vehicles that went into county canals since 1997. Add the retention ponds inside gated communities and the lakes that line golf courses, and a driver who loses control here can be in the water in seconds.
Unbuckle the moment the car hits the water, and tell everyone else to do the same.
Open a side window right away, since power windows often keep working for a short time. Skip the door: water pressure will hold it shut.
Release children from their seats and push them out the window first, oldest first, so they can help the younger ones.
Climb out through the window and get to shore. Call 911 once you are out of the car, not from inside it.
Plan Your Way Out Before You Need It
A minute is not enough time to work out a plan, so firefighters and safety researchers recommend making one ahead of time, as a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue lieutenant told the Miami Herald:
- Keep an escape tool within reach. A combination window breaker and seatbelt cutter costs about $10 and belongs on the visor, the keychain or the center console, where you can grab it while buckled in, not in the glove box or the trunk.
- Know your glass. A label in the bottom corner of each side window says whether it is tempered or laminated. Escape tools shatter tempered glass but not laminated glass: AAA found that six common tools could not break laminated side windows, which about one in three 2018 models used. If a window will not roll down, strike the corner of a tempered one, and never waste time on the windshield.
- Practice the plan. Unbuckle your own seatbelt and your children’s car seat harnesses with your eyes closed, and decide in advance who helps which child out the window.
Can a Passenger Recover When the Driver Causes the Crash?
Short answer: usually, yes. A passenger does not control the car, so when reckless or careless driving causes a crash, the driver is generally responsible for the passenger’s injuries. Where the money comes from depends on the insurance involved:
A passenger’s own personal injury protection, or a household relative’s, pays first. A passenger with neither can usually claim PIP from the policy on the car they were riding in, provided they get medical care within 14 days of the crash (§ 627.736).
Bodily injury liability coverage on the driver’s policy pays for serious injuries beyond PIP. Florida requires PIP and property damage coverage, but it does not require most drivers to carry bodily injury coverage (§ 627.733, § 324.022).
When the at-fault driver has no bodily injury coverage, or not enough, a passenger’s own uninsured motorist coverage, or a household member’s, can step in.
Fault still matters. Under Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule, an injured person found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm recovers nothing (§ 768.81(6)), and a smaller share of fault reduces the award. Passengers are rarely blamed for how someone else drove, but insurers do try, especially when they can argue a passenger knew the driver was impaired or egged on the reckless driving. A criminal case is also separate from an injury claim: a charge, or the lack of one, does not decide who pays for someone’s injuries.
What Evidence Matters After a Car Goes Into the Water?
Water wipes out evidence that is easy to collect after an ordinary crash. Tire marks end at the bank, debris sinks, and the car can sit underwater for hours before a tow company pulls it out. The pieces that usually matter most:
- The car itself. A car that has been underwater is often declared a total loss and sold for salvage. Asking the insurer and the tow yard to hold it keeps the damage, and any crash data the car recorded, available for inspection.
- 911 calls and rescue records. Dispatch audio and fire rescue reports fix the timeline and capture what people said at the scene.
- Community and nearby cameras. Gated communities often record their gates and clubhouses, but that footage is usually kept only for a limited time.
- Witnesses. Residents, early golfers and whoever called 911 can describe how the car was being driven before it went into the water.
- Medical records. Anyone who swallowed or breathed in water, hit their head, or feels short of breath should be checked by a doctor, and those records document the injuries.
Our checklist of what to do after a car accident in Florida covers the steps that apply to any crash, from the police report to the 14-day deadline for PIP treatment.
Before he represented injured people, David B. Datny was a litigation partner at a large national insurance defense firm, defending insurers and the drivers they covered. He knows how carriers investigate a crash that ends in the water, and how quickly the car, the camera footage and the records that explain it can disappear.
Hurt in a Crash Near Delray Beach? Talk to David
When a driver loses control, the people riding along have the least say and often the most to lose. The Datny Law Firm represents passengers, drivers and families hurt in crashes in Delray Beach and throughout southern Palm Beach County. Your case is handled by Delray Beach car accident lawyer David B. Datny with the help of a dedicated paralegal, and you can call, text or email David directly from your first conversation through the end of your case. Can’t come to us? Our investigator will meet you at home or in the hospital, we can talk by phone or Zoom, and you can sign everything through DocuSign. We can help in Spanish through our paralegal, and we arrange Creole and Russian interpreters when needed.
Talk to David for FREE: call 561-221-7474, start a chat any time or send us a message. There is no fee unless we win.
David B. Datny has practiced law for more than 18 years in New York and Florida, on both sides of personal injury litigation. As a litigation partner at a large national insurance defense firm, he represented insurance companies and the drivers they insured. He then changed sides and now proudly represents only injured accident victims, including passengers and drivers hurt in crashes in Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and throughout Palm Beach County.
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Sources: BocaNewsNow, Car Drives Into Lake In Kings Point, As Many As Six People Inside, Oct. 31, 2026 (updated with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue and Sheriff’s Office statements); WPBF 25 News, Car found in Delray Beach pond; man taken to hospital, arrested, Oct. 31, 2026 (updated 11:32 p.m.); CBS12, Rescue crews search Delray Beach pond after car found submerged, Oct. 31, 2026; IAED Journal, Get Out Fast!, Dec. 3, 2014, citing Giesbrecht and McDonald, Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine (2010); KidsAndCars.org, Sixty seconds: what experts actually want you to do if your car sinks, Sept. 1, 2026; Miami Herald via KidsAndCars.org, Florida has water everywhere. Here’s what to do if your car is sinking with you inside, March 2, 2020; Associated Press via Tampa Bay Times, Drivers are drowning in Florida’s canals, Oct. 12, 2019; Fla. Stat. § 324.022, § 627.733, § 627.736, § 768.81 and § 806.13 (2026).