Boating Accident/Death off Diamond Island

[Lakewinn1]

Originally Posted by VitaBene

Lakewinni, Dave did not say she was or was not guilty, he said if she was impaired she should be punished for the effect of her impairment. If she were not impaired she should be held responsible for her negligence because it is very obvious that the operator of that boat was speeding or impaired. If she was neither she would not have driven into an island. The definition of speeding at that time (pre-speed limit) was something like this:

"Speeding is operating at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent, taking into consideration weather and other operating conditions"

That is where part of the negligence comes in. By most accounts it was a foggy nights- she outran her visibility, and was going too fast for the conditions.

And not to put any more words into Dave's mouth I will state what I think- I believe that we are all too willing to call something an accident that was not. An accident is when you are carrying a big pile of laundry downstairs and you knock a picture off the wall and break it. It is not an "accident" when you are texting and speeding and have a collision and someone dies. Sometimes you have to look at inside yourself and say "yeah I screwed up, it was my fault"

VitaBene please read post #442....... Dave R seems to come across as if he has facts not just his opinion 9this is where we do not agree). While I agree with most of your points .. my point is that we all have opinions but I think we should let her be judged by her peers......If she's found guilty I agree she should be punished If she's not well you get the idea....

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Lakewinn1

VitaBene please read post #442....... Dave R seems to come across as if he has facts not just his opinion 9this is where we do not agree). While I agree with most of your points .. my point is that we all have opinions but I think we should let her be judged by her peers......If she's found guilty I agree she should be punished If she's not well you get the idea....

I stand by my statement that she crashed a boat into Diamond Island and that a person died because of it. Not sure how anyone could possibly disagree with that. Her lawyers are not going to argue that she did not hit the island or that no one really died. That's just silly. The best they can hope for is to shift blame to some mechanical failure or weather distraction, but regardless of the outcome of the trial, we, as boaters, all know who was ultimately responsible, the skipper.

[Lakewinn1]

Dave my point of focus is that she should be tried in a court of law not in the court of public opinion.

Clearly understand that she crashed into Diamond a Island resulting in tragic fatality. It's understandable we all have our opinions however we have laws that govern us as a society ... so lets let the court of law determine her fate.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Lakewinn1

Dave my point of focus is that she should be tried in a court of law not in the court of public opinion.

Clearly understand that she crashed into Diamond a Island resulting in tragic fatality. It's understandable we all have our opinions however we have laws that govern us as a society ... so lets let the court of law determine her fate.

My goal here is to make people think about their actions in the future and prevent the next tragic accident. This accident has made me second guess some of my prior actions and will affect my future actions as well. The last thing I want to have happen here is for people to think "oh, it was just an accident that could not be avoided" and fail to make corrections in their own behavior while waiting for the jury to come back with a verdict. Regardless of the outcome of the trial, we can all learn from this accident.

[Seadoo]

Originally Posted by Dave R

My goal here is to make people think about their actions in the future and prevent the next tragic accident. This accident has made me second guess some of my prior actions and will affect my future actions as well.

so dave if you are second guessing some of your prior actions you are admitting that you too make mistakes, we all do. Lets let the professionals choose her fate, give it a rest.

[VitaBene]

You are the the one who could have let this thread fall down on the forum, instead of posting a comment like that.

We have all made mistakes in our life, but few if any of us have driven a boat into an island resulting in a fatality. It is true that her fate will be decided in a court of law and she will be judged by a jury of her peers, however, this is a forum and people are entitled and encouraged to post their thoughts. Our esteemed webmaster is the arbitrar of what can be posted here.

[fpartri497]

Originally Posted by Lakewinn1

Dave my point of focus is that she should be tried in a court of law not in the court of public opinion.

Clearly understand that she crashed into Diamond a Island resulting in tragic fatality. It's understandable we all have our opinions however we have laws that govern us as a society ... so lets let the court of law determine her fate.

( let the court determine her guilt or innocense )


Great Idea people, Let It go

[sunset on the dock]

Originally Posted by fpartri497

( let the court determine her guilt or innocense )


Great Idea people, Let It go

OK, and I've seen many references here about letting the jury decide guilt or innocence, but it seems to me that this is a forum to discuss issues that may be inherently controversial....that's what a forum is all about (definition of forum: a public meeting or assembly for open discussion). No one expects to be judge or jury but it's not unreasonable to discuss facts and opinion here, otherwise we should all be moving to the weather forum. What seems unfortunate is when someone (for example who may be a friend of someone involved in the accident) wants to squelch reasonable and civil discussion of facts and opinion. It would be like saying that no one should be able to discuss the OJ trial before the verdict is in (and this case also drew national attention last June because of the inherent controversies involved).

[Lakewinn1]

I believe we are discussing and sharing our opinions as you suggest.

[KonaChick]

The court system will decide her fate however the hell that she lives everyday and will live for the rest of her life is her ultimate consequence. Jail time cannot even begin to compare to that....

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by KonaChick

The court system will decide her fate however the hell that she lives everyday and will live for the rest of her life is her ultimate consequence. Jail time cannot even begin to compare to that....

That is exactly the kind of reponse I was hoping for. I want people to think about this tragedy every time they are at the helm, especially those of us that know the lake well enough to cruise "with confidence" at night. It can happen to anyone.

[VtSteve]

Originally Posted by Dave R

That is exactly the kind of reponse I was hoping for. I want people to think about this tragedy every time they are at the helm, especially those of us that know the lake well enough to cruise "with confidence" at night. It can happen to anyone.

I understood what you meant Dave. I've had a couple of those "experiences" which my mind thought long and hard about later on. It changed my view of things. I'm still Free Spirit, but I'm also regarded as one of the more cautious pilots out on the water. At least I hope I am.

Sometimes it takes a close call, or just a modest shake-up to get people to realize what's going on. I'm certainly not anal about safety and wearing swim caps in the water to fend off boats. But I take my responsibility as skipper very seriously. This year, I'm actually briefing newbies that come aboard.

[codeman671]

I have to agree with Dave on this. It was ultimately her responsibility. Even taking the alcohol out of the equation she failed to maintain a proper lookout which resulted in the death of a friend. The boat had plenty of electronics, the boat is equipped with safety features such as a "dead-man" (not trying to make a tasteless pun) to stop the engines during an emergency situation, and she knows the lake as good as anyone. The island hasn't moved...

Even if something mechanical failed such as BOTH throttles jammed, the steering failed, etc there was still key switches to kill engines, the deadman to pull to stop them, and heck even a stern to jump off if they saw it coming. If someone can prove that her electronics were all out, the mechanical systems all failed at once just prior to crash and that the weather conditions were too poor to see then maybe I'd buy into it but that is highly unlikely.

No, she did not intend to kill her friend but I could see a negligent homocide case being a ruling. Ultimately it was still her fault/responsibility in the end.