William Bailine
Student, Gulliver Prep
Earlier this year, 15-year-old Ella Adler was killed in a boating accident when she was struck by a 42-foot boat while floating in the water off Key Biscayne. The incident rocked the community including eighth grader William Bailine, whose family is close with the Adlers. Bailine, a Coral Gables native and an International Baccalaureate student at Gulliver Prep, decided to do something about it. For his eighth-grade capstone project, Bailine is working on a prototype safety vest for swimmers, and drafting recommendations for the state to create stricter boating regulations and impose larger fines for violators through camera-equipped buoys. He met with officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as well as Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson to discuss his work.
Latest Achievement
Bailine spoke at the December 10 Coral Gables City Commission meeting to highlight his project. He’s currently still creating his safety vest prototype, which will be made from products recommended by the Fish and Wildlife Commission and will include a SCUBA flag and a whistle to signal boaters to slow down. He’s also recommending increasing fines for speeding violations from $250 to $1,000 and putting cameras and sensors on buoys which will track boaters’ speeds and automatically send violators tickets.
What he Say
“In the future, I hope to bring [this project] to the state level,” says Bailine. “Being directly affected by the Ella Adler incident, I felt that it was my responsibility to create something that will ensure it won’t happen again. Those situations are very hard to wipe out completely, but even if you save one life, it’ll be a success.” – Kylie Wang