ItsPeanut

.14 4 hours after the accident. That means his bac may have been higher. To put that many people at risk is just stupid. 3 1/2 for a life. He got off easy.

vindicator101

I'ts my understanding that an expert testified in court that the BAC would actually have been lower than .14 at time of the accident due to the way the liver reacts after trauma to the body caused by the accident.

fasttoys7619

that is very ,very sad, yes there was alchohol involved that makes it worse, I am not sticking up for the captian but i must say some channel markers are hard to see especially if you dont have gps,radar or night vision, I once slightly glanced a marker pilion and almost hit another in Florida and i was sober !! and by the looks of that one in the picture who knows? was there a report on the marker light ? does it work ? maybe it was not funtioning and that reflecter marker is faceing one way , up here on the Chain o Lakes we have floating marker bouys some with flashers, 25% of them never work and i hit one and got the chain tangled in my prop, our night speed limit is 25 up here
Agian im not sticking up for the driver, i to once in awhile will consume , but every time theres a accident every one blames the captian that was drinking when there can be many other factors that can happen even with a sober captian


just my 2 cents

Apathetic

Article from the local newspaper where the accident came: http://www.rrecord.com/news3a.asp

As for fasttoys7619, I'm very familiar with the marker and find it hard that he could miss it, but in all fairness, I have worked the waters here as a waterman in my younger years and have boated here since the '70's...so I guess I should know it.

IMO, Night boating + alcohol + on plane is not very wise, especially if the person is unfamiliar with the area and the marker location(s).

Terribly sad for everyone involved.

vindicator101

The captain should have been very familiar with the water including the marker since he had a summer home there. It is strange that with all the people on board they all say they never saw the marker light. I realize that unless you're looking for them they're easy to miss at night but still. The only thing the Coast Guard could say on the record was the light was working when they got on the scene after the accident. Off the record they say that lighted markers in general do not always work properly and sometimes they have to bang on them to get them to come on. Not defending anyone either but if it wasn't on before hand a boat hitting it would sure give it a big jolt and cause it to come on.

VtSteve

Paid experts are famous for using that one. .14 at the time of measurement, four hours later, is pretty darn high. One thing that's almost always been proven true, is that drinking while boating enhances the impacts of the alcohol.

But as many accidents like these as we have every single year, they always happen again and again. It only takes once, and many times, you don't get to say you're sorry.

PhantomChaos

What a load of crap. What's this......the liver produces alcohol and puts it in the blood stream when reacting to trama to the body? I see.......so if I fall down a bunch of times causing trama to my body then........what?

Apathetic

vindicator, good point on him having his summer home down here (who doesn't?). As for the light working that night, I can't say, but I can say I was told it was working on Memorial Day. We do have a troublesome light, very occasionally, on Carters Creek channel entrance, but in general these lights around here (Rappahannock River and the creeks) are pretty good.

It was a very bad combination of alcohol and night driving on plane. It's very sad and it really hit home for me since this was the first time we've had a fatality so close to our home.

Best wishes to you all and please be safe. Take care.

vindicator101

It's the first time I've ever heard this about the liver haven't done any research on it so it may well be a lot of crap. I guess you can always find an expert some where to help your case with the right lawyer.

VtSteve

Yeah, the legal ho's for hire can concoct just about anything. From what I've seen, 1-3 years is about average for a death caused while boating drunk. The irony is that I've seen far worse penalties for crimes not as severe.

This 23' boat was jam-packed at night, beer cans everywhere, .14 on the captain's BAC. It's just not something I want on my conscience, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone else either. I will offer one thing. I respect all involved for not trying to evade their responsibility, they didn't lie. That alone shows some character, usually missing from these cases.

People rarely forgive or understand drunken drivers on the road, why should it be any different on the water? It's really hurt boating, and will continue to do so.