Fatal collision may spark bill
 

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Fatal collision may spark bill

A lawmaker says legislation may be needed for Smith Mountain Lake.

By Jay Conley
981-3114
The Roanoke Times

The chairman of a state Senate committee that launched a bill passed this year by the General Assembly mandating daylight patrols on Smith Mountain Lake has said Saturday's fatal boat collision could be the catalyst for more lake legislation.

"Obviously with the tragedy this past weekend, there's going to have to be some other assessment of what we can do to kind of help the situation," Sen. Charles Hawkins, R-Chatham, said Wednesday.

Hawkins represents the 19th District, which includes Franklin and Pittsylvania counties, and is chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee.

A bill sponsored by Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, emerged from that committee during this year's General Assembly session that called for mandatory daylight patrols on the lake by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

The Game Department said this week it is struggling with limited resources to effectively patrol the 22,000-acre lake during the week as well as during busy summer weekends, when boat traffic is heaviest.

Gerald Massengill, acting director of the department, said the agency has been collecting information from accident reports and daily lake patrols in order to demonstrate to legislators during next year's General Assembly session that there is a need for a stronger game warden presence on the lake.

Saturday's fatal collision happened about 10 p.m., a time when game wardens say there are often more boats on the lake than during daytime hours.

According to the Game Department, a high-speed performance boat driven by Mark de Tournillon, 45, of Moneta plowed into the back of a cabin cruiser on the Roanoke River section of the lake, killing Lawrence and Judith Lewis, also of Moneta.

De Tournillon was charged Wednesday with two counts of manslaughter.

Alcohol, prescription drugs and excessive speed are considered to be factors in the collision, according to the Game Department.

Hawkins said Wednesday the collision calls for a closer look at the lake's boating activities.

"I've talked this morning to the game and inland fisheries people, and Col. Massengill, he's been up there and he's going to call me back ... and try to figure out what type of legislation or what can be done to help," Hawkins said.

Other lake-area legislators declined comment Wednesday regarding more legislation at the lake.

"I think it's probably premature at this point," Del. Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount, said of any proposed legislation. He wants to see the Game Department's report on the investigation of the accident before commenting.

Under a new state law that went into effect this summer, boaters who cause a fatality while under the influence can be charged with manslaughter.

Dudley said lake residents' concerns that a speed limit for boaters is needed may not be the answer.

"We have speed limits on automobiles and people still speed," he said.

Massengill said he wants to hear what Hawkins and other legislators who represent the lake area want to see regarding additional regulations at the lake.

Both Hawkins and Massengill said they were aware that some lake residents favor some sort of speed limit or engine size limit for boats on the lake. Both said they want to make sure that if any additional laws are put in place that there is enough enforcement to back up the measures.

"That tragedy this weekend I think underscores it all," Hawkins said. "We need to make sure people understand that the boating public ... needs to be tempered with some common sense and regulation to make sure that it's safe for all the people to enjoy that lake."

Hawkins said he plans to speak with Massengill today to discuss safety concerns at the lake and hear what Game Department officials feel are the top priorities.

"I think what they're trying to do is figure out what they can come up with to have some approach that actually tries to address the problem rather than trying to put a Band-Aid on this particular situation," he said. "Something more long-term that has some real effects throughout the state for these other lakes that have problems too."

Hawkins said it may be difficult to design effective legislation on a body of water as large as Smith Mountain Lake.

"Anything that is that large, it's going to be impossible to patrol all of it," he said. "We just need to make sure that people understand the dangers that they can put themselves and other people in out there at night speeding in a boat, particularly if there is alcohol or some other type of abuse in place. This is serious stuff."

Posted here since the other thread was deleted.

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

The rumor is idle only speed after dark sounds crazy but would work

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

Another accident and another tragedy.....
The last thing we need are more laws...
Less government is better government....
What we need are enforcemment of exisiting laws .....
Anyone traveling at high speeds in a congested area in the dark whether impaired or not, should be prosecuted, I don't know the laws in your state, but I can gaurantee there are plenty to prosecute in this instance....
We on Long Island, experienced a boating tragedy last week that took the life of a young girl. It took place around 9pm ,in the dark and it wasn't foggy.The boats involved where a Mako + a Bayliner.. Nothing to do with high speed activity and the driver tested 0. Boating at night is dangerous! Even if you have Radar... We all HAVE to be MORE CAREFULL.....
Day or Night...

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

"YOU CAN'T LEGISLATE STUPIDITY"

Quote from a marine commission meeting on Lake Norman.

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

Who did not see this coming....... :mad: :mad:

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

Just to be constructive,

I think we need running lights that are truly visable, not the current type.. Someone should invent a legal supplementary light system to be used in addition to the current system that is acceptable under the law...
In this way we don't have to deal with the lawmakers..
Take it into our own hands for our own safety.......

Let's be proactive

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

Granted, I have never been to SML, but does that sound right? More boats out at night than during the day?

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

Here is a recap of what led to the Lake Conroe night time speed limit. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...olitan/3250032

Sad story

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

Very sad indeed. Bottom line Drinking & operating motor or other vehicles dont mix, period. Too much at stake & risk. If Im operating any machinery, vehicles or boats, I dont drink a drop.

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

what is width and length of SML?

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

found this

Smith Mountain Lake is a beautiful man-made lake about 30 miles southwest of Lynchburg. Covering 20,000 acres of land, the 40-mile long lake was created by the damming of the Roanoke River at Smith Mountain Gap. Recreational activities include boating, fishing, restaurants, golfing and a state park with beaches and camping. Much of the 500 miles of shoreline has been developed with houses, townhomes, and condominiums, making the lake a premiere resort and retirement area.

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

It is fairly narrow in spots and can be dangerous during the day, much less at night. The wardens are already complaining about the legislation this idiot passed that now requires they patrol the lake all week long. Because they are stretched thin on resources, they can't patrol as heavily on weekends because of this new law. Now he wants to do it again?? That my friend is a typical politician.

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

most of the main channels are near a 1/4 mile wide, of course there are closer and wider points, water depth's in the channel range from 40ft to 180ft.

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

if you need some sort of legislation how about making every boater pass a written safety test,
that would be the first place to start.

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

You know, as one who is almost always on the side of less government and legislation, I wouldn't mind a test for everyone who wants to operate a boat of any kind. It will not help the idiots who refuse to act responsibly but we could all benefit from the higher knowledge gained by the boating community as a whole.

Check out this article..

Wardens' work doesn't cut wrecks


A mandated patrol law has forced the department to reduce patrols during some of the lake's busiest times. Do you dare go out on the lake?


By Mark Taylor
981-3395
The Roanoke Times



MONETA - Virginia game wardens have spent more time than ever patrolling Smith Mountain Lake this summer, but added patrols haven't necessarily made the state's most dangerous body of water safer.


Because of a law that went into effect July 1, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is required to have at least one warden on patrol at the lake during daylight hours from the Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. The law has more than doubled the shifts wardens are pulling at the lake, but in its first month the statute didn't reduceAdvertisement

accidents.

In July there were nine reported accidents at the lake, matching the number of accidents in July 2004.

Accidents must be reported if they result in $2,000 worth of property damage, injury requiring treatment beyond first aid, or a fatality.

August's three fatalities match the total number of boaters killed at the lake in 2004.

The mandated patrol law has forced the department to reduce patrols during some of the lake's busiest times in order to operate patrols during quieter times on the lake.

Last year wardens conducted 10 sobriety checkpoint operations on the lake. This year they have conducted just two.

Saturday night, when two boaters were killed in a collision between two powerboats, a single team of two wardens was on patrol. Wardens almost always work the lake in two-person teams.

"Normally on a Saturday night, we would have had two or three boats on patrol," said game warden Capt. Ron Henry, head of the law enforcement operations in the department's Region II, which covers Smith Mountain Lake. "But I had my guys tied up all week."

Henry used to schedule heavy patrols on weekends, and random patrols during the week.

One boat isn't enough when the lake is busy, said Gerald Massengill, the agency's acting director.

"You cannot police that lake with one boat," Massengill said.

To meet staffing needs, Henry and warden lieutenants Tony Fisher and Karl Martin have had to pull wardens from 22 counties. Some have had to spend nights in area motels so they could work shifts on consecutive days.

"We would rather not have wardens driving in from long distances," Massengill said. "We would rather have wardens who are part of the community."

Lake needs also have reduced wardens' efforts on their home turf, Massengill said.

To get to the lake in time for his 6 a.m. to noon patrol Tuesday, Sgt. Bill Kidd from Buckingham County had to set his alarm for 3:20 a.m.

He and patrol partner Dewayne Sprinkle spent much of the first three hours of the shift sitting at a picnic table under a covered boat slip, catching up on computer work and paperwork as a steady rain fell.

"We've seen one boat," Sprinkle said.

Massengill spent part of a recent Friday on the water with Henry.

"What I wanted to see was the enormity of the situation," said Massengill, the retired superintendant of the Virginia State Police.

Massengill said he came away with an appreciation of the need for beefed-up patrols.

"We don't disagree that we need resources on that lake pretty much all the time," he said. "But we would like to have the flexibility to use our resources to the fullest extent."

Massengill said department officials are developing a proposed plan for future law enforcement efforts at Smith Mountain Lake, which will become busier as shoreline development continues.

He would like not only for the department to regain control of patrol scheduling, but also would like to get additional funding to cover the area's growing law enforcement needs.

"I'm going to be talking to legislators about our concerns up there," Massengill said.

The plan will probably call for more wardens to be assigned to the area, and maybe even a substation at the lake, Massengill said.

Tuesday morning Sprinkle and Kidd got busy once the rain stopped and boats started running.

After checking the fishing licenses and safety equipment on a couple of bass boats, the two spotted a pair of Yamaha Wave Runners. One of the drivers appeared to turn near his friend in an attempt to spray him with a wake.

Sprinkle gunned the wardens' boat to try to catch up with the drivers of the speeding personal watercraft. They stopped on their own before they realized they were being pursued.

Sprinkle asked one of the men, Dean Pompeilio of Olney, Md., if he knew it was against the law to operate the craft at speed within 50 feet of another vessel. Pompeilio was argumentative from the outset, but got really irked when Sprinkle started writing out a summons for reckless operation of a watercraft.

"I'll give you your d--- money for your ticket," he fumed. "I can make that money in 20 minutes."

He wasn't done.

"You're out here on a day when there is no one on the water," Pompeilio continued. "You should have been out on the lake Sunday. There were a bunch of crazy people out here. I almost got killed trying to wakeboard."

The warden kept writing.

"We were out here Sunday, sir," Sprinkle said calmly. "We're out here every day."

Smith Mountain Lake boating accidents

2001 Accidents 47 Fatalities 0

2002 Accidents 35 Fatalities 0

2003 Accidents 20 Fatalities 1

2004 Accidents 31 Fatalities 3

2005 Accidents 22 Fatalities 3

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

There is no "Written Test", no "Law", no "Legislative Bill" or any type of government that will overcome the lack of common sence!!!!

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

Too bad the politicians didn't act this quick against tobacco, it kills more than just a few people :rolleyes:

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

The moron that made that quote is either uneducated to the facts of SML or is predujucied beyond belief. This fact is simply NOT true.... NOT even close to be true!

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

could you imagine if they posted a speed limit for inland lakes? Boat sales would definately decrease

Re: Fatal collision may spark bill
 

Yikes, don't even think that. Cumberland is a 100 mile long lake and despite that fact that there has never been a go fast fatality there, some do-gooders just don't like the idea of fast boats and have openly said they think they should be banned from the lake outright.