3 gone in the blink of an eye
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I watched that this morning. Interestingly, when the news of the collision first broke, a group of tournament anglers was stating online that the collision occurred in dense fog and that the vessel Davis ran over was āfishing in a dangerous spot and the captain should have known better than to be fishing thereā. Yet, as the video shows, visibility was not an issue and the only one at fault was Davis.
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I thought the victims were fishing in a well known spot, therefore the tournament guy should have known it was a high traffic area. The video is disturbingā¦
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Terrible that happened. The person driving wasnāt paying attention - it doesnāt matter if it a high traffic area - rules of the road apply. I say less than 20% on the water actually know and understand the rules.
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Having worked enforcement in a boat ā as did topnative also ā Iād say that 20% is a high estimate. As much as I oppose too much government oversight, this is why I wish we had mandatory boater education. It wouldnāt cure the problem, but I believe it would help. When I was a Texas boating safety instructor I was always amazed at how many people didnāt know that there were any regulations at allā¦ā¦ā¦
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There is a lot about all that, that just makes me feel like a lib..smh.. At the end of the day though, itās just sad and was 100% preventable.
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Alabama already requires a boater safety course unless you were born prior to 1954, resident or nonresident. Unfortunately, just like driving a car, a few seconds of not paying attention can have deadly results. Knowing all the rules is one thing, abiding by them is another. Iāll admit I donāt always drive the speed limit, but the faster I go the more focused I am.
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Man that video is brutal. Iād be lying if I said I knew all the rules of the road for boating, but common courtesy, common sense, and just paying attention go a long way while being on the water. Donāt know what the answer is, but not sure a boater safety course would have prevented this. I have no problem with said courses, and I do think they are a good idea. Sad situationā¦
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He said excessive speed was not a factor, but logic tells me it was some part of it. Letās take it to extremes. At 1 mph, I would have 30 minutes in the last 1/2 mile before the accident to look up an see a boat. At 60 mph, I would have 30 seconds. Still plenty of time, but make the distance whatever you want. Hmm, I reckon that is why the speed limit in a school zone might be 20 mph instead of 35 mph. It just amazes me that no governing body, sponsor or anyone will stand up and say lets cap the speed in tournaments at 40 mph.
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I am not a big fan of government oversight/ rulesā¦ but I am amazed at how quickly people abuse their ārights.ā
Related to this tragedyā¦ I went to the Keys with my cousin earlier this year. We were picking up two new paddleboards in SFL so we decided to play around in the keys for a couple days.
Amazing time- but at one point we had to cross a 50 foot wide channel on the southern end of Islamorada. This was between a small mangrove island and the denser mangroves on the island itself.
I got across with no issues but my cousin spent 10 minutes getting waked to hell by boats going through that little cut at 30-80 knots (some huge racing hulls that were screaming by).
Fun to watch- but I wouldnāt be comfortable running through a blind area that fast.
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When you spend a lot of time on the water, particularly in small boats, close calls happen. I make a point of telling all my charters (particularly ones at night) to please help me keep an eye out - that the only real danger weāll face on a trip - will be other boatersā¦ Tru ādatā¦
Since Iām also a long retired cop (22 years in Dade county, 1973-1995) working for one of the citiesā¦ Iāve seen my share of tragedies both on the road and on the waterā¦ Once an accident has happened - there will always be lots of back and forth about who or what was responsible. Not much you can do for the injured parties (or the dead) after the fact. Wish it werenāt so.
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Wow. He stated the driver had been traveling in a straight line for approximately 1 mile before the collision. I was watching a video yesterday where an avid fisherman familiar with the area was suggesting that the driver had made a hard left turn that contributed to the accident. That certainly doesnāt add up. That same fisherman believed the driver didnāt deserve prison. He agreed the accident was tragic, but believed someone shouldnāt be imprisoned for a true āaccidentā because we all have accidents.
Vigilance is your best friend on the water.
This weekend I saw two kayaks in the north bound lane of the intercoastal going under the Boca Grande Causeway. Thankfully is idle through there.
Probably a good time to address safety in general and mention one of my personal pet peevesā¦
Make sure your boatās lights are working. I routinely head out early mornings and head into the ICW to get to where Iām going. It never fails that there is at least one boat out there motoring along blissfully without lights. And worse, they typically they travel on the wrong side of the ICW driving fast making head on collisions more likely. And if youāre on a kayak before light, get some damn lightsā¦. 
. Too many times kayakers are crossing the ICW or paddling along in heavily traveled routes with absolutely no lights!
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Somewhat related to traveling with lights, is the fact that you shouldnāt be driving excessively fast when you canāt see. My uncle was fishing on the Tennessee River in a stretch where it flows primarily East to West and he got T-boned by a guy running down river. The guy admitted that the sun was directly in his eyes and he never saw my uncles boat until it was too late.
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All that water,im questioning what he was doing behind the wheel, i love to run fast when water allows, but at 53 mph im glued to to view in front of my boat because I love my boat and crew and know im responsible for boths well-being! My wife watched the video she said all that water did he hit them on purpose? I said i donāt think so but I agree all that water what was he preoccupied with ? I know you have to hold the wheel going that fast so where was his eyes and thoughts at the time ? Id like to know what his crew has to say!and Prayers for the families 
I have nearly been hit several times by bass boats starting a tournament. Its the most F-ing absurd thing that these guys all launch at the same place at the same time and race to their spots.
I hope they 100% kill the shotgun / blast off starts and quit forcing anglers to start from the same launch at the same time. I hate bass tournaments with the white hot intensity of 1000 burning suns because of this. There is no reason to go that fast all at the same time.
If i am ever governor my sole priority will be getting hp restrictions issued for all inland and coastal waterways.
I am 3_inches and I approve this message
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Most of those guys are running two 12in screens on elevated mounts at the console. Add a large trolling motor and 2 more 12 or 16in screens on the bow. Based on his mugshot he is a smaller guy. 5ā8ā ish. My guess is his visibility in front of the bow is hindered to start with and he had his head buried in his graphs looking for his next spot. Iām sure those high end units painted a scene for investigators to follow. Whether he ends up serving time or not his life and career is already ruined.
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When i first heard i thought there must be some weather issues like fog, dawn with no lights on rain, something. That video is very disturbing. 3 lives needlessly lost. Tragic.
Speed was not a factor, I beg to disagree. That boat was traveling at over 98ā per second, let that sink in. You have a lot less time to react to when your hauling ass. I can guarantee you if you start reducing the speed at some point that accident would not have happened. 50mph, 30mph, 20mph, there is a speed when the operator would have seen the other boat in time to avoid it. Other factors like inattention and improper lookout are factors, but speed was also a factor in this accident. What was the primary factor? Which one or more of the factors can you take away and the accident would not have happened?