Boating Accident/Death off Diamond Island

[sa meredith]

Originally Posted by OCDACTIVE

There hasn't been one substantial post regarding the case, in hand, in days.. Perhaps someone should start a alcohol and boating thread so that the continuous conjecture can stop.

There is nothing more that can be said that hasn't been said already until April 21st. So lets have some respect for everyone involved and move the conversation elsewhere.

I would take issue with your statement...
I posed what I thought a very legit question.
And so, I ask you....
I've read many of your posts, and clearly you are a skilled/experienced boater. So tell me...under what circumstances, would you travel, at night, at 18MPH, in zero visibility, in a non emergency situation?

[OCDACTIVE]

Originally Posted by sa meredith

I would take issue with your statement...
I posed what I thought a very legit question.
And so, I ask you....
I've read many of your posts, and clearly you are a skilled/experienced boater. So tell me...under what circumstances, would you travel, at night, at 18MPH, in zero visibility, in a non emergency situation?

Start a new thread and I will be happy to answer night driving questions, my habits etc.

Also it was not directed at you.. I have found this thread has become offensive in many posts (not yours) to those partys involved on both sides. Every bit of evidence that has been brought to light as been discussed, elaborated on, even speculated on to no ends.

To continue to discuss other issues under this topic in my opinion is disrespectful to the families and we should let it rest until there is any more information or news brought to light.

But again if you want to discuss night driving or alcohol in boats I would be more then happy to discuss my views and safety on the lake at your convenience. Just in a different thread.

[sunset on the dock]

Looks like someone thinks speed limits on our highways aren't necessary either. If I were writing a book I couldn't even dream this stuff up!

From Laconia Citizen.....citizen.com

Laconia:
Blizzard cited for going 84 mph while talking on cell phone

[Slickcraft]

Originally Posted by sunset on the dock

Looks like someone thinks speed limits on our highways aren't necessary either. If I were writing a book I couldn't even dream this stuff up!

From Laconia Citizen.....citizen.com

Laconia:
Blizzard cited for going 84 mph while talking on cell phone

Link to the story:
http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...607/-1/CITIZEN

[secondcurve]

Originally Posted by OCDACTIVE

Start a new thread and I will be happy to answer night driving questions, my habits etc.

Also it was not directed at you.. I have found this thread has become offensive in many posts (not yours) to those partys involved on both sides. Every bit of evidence that has been brought to light as been discussed, elaborated on, even speculated on to no ends.

To continue to discuss other issues under this topic in my opinion is disrespectful to the families and we should let it rest until there is any more information or news brought to light.

But again if you want to discuss night driving or alcohol in boats I would be more then happy to discuss my views and safety on the lake at your convenience. Just in a different thread.

OCDACTIVE:

It looks like there is some new information on Blizzard. Care to comment? Clearly she is a menace not only on our waterways but on our roadways. I'm sure it wasn't her fault maybe her gas pedal was defective like all those Toyota's. I think if I were her I'd also change my vanity plate, but that is just me.

[steadyon]

Unbelievable!!!
I am glad that she didn't run the cop down!
clearly she has a problem with obeying the laws.

[fatlazyless]

"XTREME" is her New Hampshire vanity license plate according to the news report in the Citizen on a large GM suv and it came close to hitting the state trooper who jumped out of the way as she was 84-mph and texting on a cell phone. If this saga becomes a Hollywood movie, me-thinks that Julia Roberts could be an excellent actress in character to portray Erica.

....talk about bad timing what with the recent court verdict, the Belknap County Prosecutor, the Belknap County Superior Court Judge, the New Hampshire State Trooper, the local news press, the public interest, and poor Erica and her defense attorney......sounds like it's definately ready to roll....and coming soon...to a movie theatre near you....

[topwater]

Ok, I'll say it!!! WHAT A PIECE OF WORK SHE IS !! she deserves everything she is going to get, which I hope includes the kitchen table thrown at her. I said it before and I will say it again, She was quilty then, and she is quilty now.
Ocdactive, I agree with you about this thread, IMHO she is not worth wasting any more of my time on. That is my last ( Perry Mason Moment )!

[chipj29]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

For a moral opinion....talk to your moral adviser, ....for a legal opinion....New Hampshire has a state statute commonly known as the "open container law" which outlaws an open alcoholic beverage to be within the vehicle while on the road, and means an open beer can, wine bottle, liquor bottle with its' cork, tab, screw top, etc., being removed.

Understand you can purchase facsimile faux cans of soda that look like Coke or Pepsi that fit over a beer can and presumably disquise the open beer from the eyes of law enforcement but not necessarily from their noses.

FLL, I know what the law is regarding OPEN containers. However that is not what APS and I were discussing. Nevermind the fact that there is NO law pertaining to open containers on boats.
I have made my point perfectly clear that the presence of alcohol means only that there was alcohol on the boat. That fact alone may of course raise suspicion that she was drinking, but it proves nothing.

Originally Posted by secondcurve

Chip:

She killed someone and she was drunk based upon scientific evidence, as APS aptly notes above. While the jury didn't find her guilty on two of the three charges, they didn't find her innocent either. The jury did find her guilty of negligently operating her boat.

The sentencing will be interesting. My guess is that the judge will go heavy on the jail time given that he likely wasn't fooled by Blizzard's slick attorney.

I don't disagree with you at all. My point goes back to before the trial ended, where we were discussing the fact that there was alcohol on the boat. See above.

I am not condoning her actions in anyway. I am only stating that there is nothing wrong with alcohol (open or unopen container) being present on a boat. Period.

[sa meredith]

Although I have been very critical of Erica's decision making in the past week or so, part of me felt sympathy for her...as we all (or at least me) have made poor choices in our lives from time to time.
To be very honest, many years back, I thought nothing of mixing alcohol with operating a boat/ automobile...although on the boat, was always very careful to limit drinking to one or two per 4 hours. In the car, well, not so much...
Anyway...to me, two things in the past week speak very loudly to her character.
1. Allowing herself to be seen with a huge smile on her face following the verdict. I'm quite sure her victim and the vicitim's family can no longer smile. Save the celebration for private quarters.
2. This latest story of speeding/ changing lanes with no signal/ using a cell phone/ generally not paying attention while driving in the third lane.
Was there an open beer in the center console??!!
What a blatant show of disrespect for a person who just caught, what I believe, to be a nice break. No OUI conviction, after testing at .15, and admitting drinking.
Go easy for a while, Erica. 65 MPH, limit going out in public, etc etc...
I love the comment about..."...gee, I haven't been stopped in a really long time." Really?! Anything else you'd care to disclose?

[john60ri]

Since the saga continues, one final comment: When a defense attorney has to represent a client who is guilty as sin, what he and the client have to do is make up a "story" which will hopefully paint the client in a more favorable light. I did not buy the part of the story about her speeding up because her passengers were feeling sick. Did not sound credible to me, but maybe that's the best they could come up with. Whatever story they presented to the jury, it worked pretty well, since she was convicted only of negligence, not drunkenness or recklessness. It's all speculation, of course, and as I said, I am not a boater. I would love to read the transcript of the trial. As to the speeding incident, makes me think we're dealing with a real narcissistic personality here.

[sunset on the dock]

But let's give credit where credit is due...at least there was no report of any handgun in the car.

[Mr. V]

Has the prosecuting attorney given any indication as to whether he will retry her on the two hung jury counts?

It ain't over til it's over.

[Bear Islander]

It has been said here many times that we should "go easy" in our comments in deference to the family of the victim. Now we find out that in the almost two years since the accident, Erica has been driving around with "XTREME" on her license plate. It seems to me that is more of a slap in the face than anything that has been said here.

It shows a serious lapse in judgment and sensibility. Changing to a generic plate after the accident would have been prudent.

[DEJ]

The biggest lapse in judgement IMO are recent comments and remarks made here in this thread.

[chipj29]

Originally Posted by Bear Islander

It has been said here many times that we should "go easy" in our comments in deference to the family of the victim. Now we find out that in the almost two years since the accident, Erica has been driving around with "XTREME" on her license plate. It seems to me that is more of a slap in the face than anything that has been said here.

It shows a serious lapse in judgment and sensibility. Changing to a generic plate after the accident would have been prudent.

In a way, I agree with you BI. Although it shouldn't have any bearing on the case(s) at hand, it just might.

With that said, in the time after the accident, I think she had bigger and better things to worry about than changing her license plate. Does the article mention who the owner of the vehicle is?

[ApS]

Originally Posted by john60ri

"...When a defense attorney has to represent a client who is guilty as sin, what he and the client have to do is make up a "story" which will hopefully paint the client in a more favorable light..."

First, the court has the witness sworn—or, today, "affirmed"—to:

"Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth".

That said, Perjury is probably the least-enforced law on the books.

Second: That would be illegal for a lawyer. It is called "suborning of witnesses", and resulted in the recent impeachment of a President. (No conviction resulted).

IMO, in today's P-C world, the "vetting" of ALL Presidents has gone AWOL.

Originally Posted by NoBozo

I Had NO IDEA about such an option. Never heard of such a thing. No need to. SO How would YOU know such things....?? Just wondering...???.............. NB

The link is now broken, but FLL did, indeed, read of the "hiding a beer can" wrapper here:



Sold for the "discreet" boater.

It appeared about when Lake Norman, previously cited, departed from its "dry" county status. (Shortly after becoming a "wet" county, an airborne boat departed the lake, hit a guard rail, was hit by a car, spun, and flipped over onto its passengers (!) on Interstate 77.

Serious injuries resulted and beer cans were strewn in the median.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=263602_263622

Today, for partying on a boat, you can also buy a "bong cover"!

With legal open containers on a boat, a legal firearm on a boat, with possibly stoned and legally-drunken passengers on a boat, may I be excused if I "wave-off" any future rescues?

[Lake Lady 6]

On 4/8/10 at about 5 p.m. I was driving north from Manchester on Rt. 93 on cruise control at 68 mph. I saw an SUV coming in the passing lane going much faster than I was driving. As it passed me and I estimated to my passenger that it was going at least 80 mph I glanced at the number plate - you guessed it Xtreme, black SUV. Of course Ms Blizzard wasn't driving it as she has been told by the Court not to drive - but apparently whoever was driving has the same driving habits - can't say if they were on the cell phone however.

[tony1122]

Put the plate over the jail cell

[jeffk]

I haven't commented since the verdict so I might as well throw my 2 cents into the ante. I thought she would be convicted of negligence from the beginning. There is a HUGE responsibility on the operator of a boat to operate it flawlessly. Essentially, if there is a collision it is very difficult to avoid some type of responsibility for the collision. Since a death was involved this makes it even more of an issue. On a night that was described as extremely poor visibility it makes no sense to be traveling on plane. A prudent person would have been operating at headway speed. Further, I haven't seen why she wasn't using GPS? I know others have said theirs isn't always reliable but my experience has been very good with with mine. I might get a 10 ft error so I could hit a marker if I was cutting things too close, but an island? Sorry, not in my experience. When I am out at night I use GPS and sight to navigate. If either one fails I drop off plane to get my bearings. On the other hand if I have a clear GPS track and I can visually confirm it I am comfortable cruising at 45 MPH.

I am not against drinking but there is just no excuse for irresponsibility. Her BAC show she was legally drunk. My guess is the jury let her off on the alcohol conviction because they felt she was already paying a high price and would face jail time with the negligence conviction alone. It's not what the jury should have done but juries can make those kind of decisions. I think the challenges of night boating are significant. I drink very lightly on nights I am out, only one drink, possibly a second if I know I will be not leaving for a few hours. I don't need the extra disorientation at night. I think that's what a responsible boater should do. She was not acting responsibly.

I think she made a lot of stupid and even arrogant choices and her friend is dead because of it. She is going to pay a high price for her behavior. I'm not out for vengeance. I think it is a tragic situation for everyone involved but she has to accept the responsibility for her actions.

The driving incident underscores her mindset. 84 is pushing it pretty good. Using a cell phone in the manner described is foolish. She does what she wants and doesn't consider the cost. I guess after going through the accident I would have expected her to have become more circumspect. Sad.

[OCDACTIVE]

Originally Posted by secondcurve

OCDACTIVE:

It looks like there is some new information on Blizzard. Care to comment? Clearly she is a menace not only on our waterways but on our roadways. I'm sure it wasn't her fault maybe her gas pedal was defective like all those Toyota's. I think if I were her I'd also change my vanity plate, but that is just me.

this is not new information concerning the tragic loss of life from a boating accident.