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Here come the boats with accidents in wake
JEFF PORTER
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Minutes after state Game and Fish Commission officers
hit the water on Lake Hamilton near Hot Springs last weekend, they were
writing their first ticket of the day.
Slowing down her state-owned BassCat with its 200-horsepower
Evinrude engine, officer Stephanie Moudy steered toward a boat stopped
in the middle of the lake. First order of business: count life jackets.
Recreational boats are required to carry jackets for everyone on board,
and children under 13 must be wearing them.
The middle-age couple had the required jackets in the
borrowed boat. But they flunked the next test: Boats must also carry a
"throwable" -- a life preserver that someone in the boat can throw to someone
in the water.
Like a lot of people on the lake, they didn't have one.
They weren't even sure what a throwable was, also not unusual. Since the
boat was borrowed, Moudy let them off with a warning ticket instead of
a possible \\$185 fine. She showed them a throwable and advised them to buy
one.
That Saturday morning was fairly quiet, thanks to the
off-and-on rainy weather. But this weekend, if recent history is a guide,
Arkansas will have eight or so boating accidents.
Indeed, nationally, July Fourth is the busiest and deadliest
holiday on the water. On average, someone dies every 72 minutes, according
to the U.S. Coast Guard.
So Moudy was planning to be busy this weekend. She knows
that people are going to visit lakes with plans to have fun.
Safe boating is not complicated, Moudy and other experts
say. Pay attention. Be experienced. Don't go too fast. Don't get drunk.
Wear a life jacket.
"It's pretty much that simple," said Matt Miser of Stuart,
Fla., who makes his living training people to drive boats. He should know
about boating accidents. Florida, with its miles of coastline, leads the
nation in boating accidents, injuries and deaths.
U.S. Coast Guard figures for 1995-97, the most recent
available, show 269 recreational boating accidents reported in Arkansas,
with 46 fatalities and 127 injuries. Those numbers rank the state about
the middle nationally.
The accident numbers are low, according to M.H. "Butch"
Potts, assistant boating administrator for the Game and Fish Commission.
He said that, nationwide, at least eight of every 10 boating accidents
go unreported.
The fatality numbers are more reliable. It's hard to hide
the fact that someone died.
Although the number of boats registered in Arkansas has
increased -- 143,000 in 1992 to 208,000 in 1998 -- Potts said the number
of deaths has held steady at 15-20 a year.
WATER HAZARDS
Between 1995 and 1997, the most accidents were reported
on Greers Ferry Lake near Heber Springs, Beaver Lake near Rogers, Norfork
Lake near Mountain Home, the Arkansas River and Lake Ouachita near Hot
Springs.
The most deaths happened on rivers -- five each on the
Arkansas and the Ouachita in south Arkansas.
Rivers differ from lakes, Potts said. They have stronger
currents, more logs and trees and other hazards. And, he said, unlike U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers lakes such as Greers Ferry, boaters can't see as
far. They might approach a bend in a river and find themselves on a collision
course with another boat -- if they're paying attention.
The 1995-97 Coast Guard numbers and Game and Fish Commission
accident reports for 1998 show the same pattern of causes: inattention,
inexperience, speed, alcohol. Eight of every 10 people who died weren't
wearing life jackets.
On June 11, 1998, a 4-year-old boy and his 29-year-old
father were cruising the Arkansas River near Little Rock when their ski
boat hit an underwater rock jetty. The collision ejected the boy, who wasn't
wearing a jacket. The man jumped into the river, also without a jacket.
Officers found the bodies two days later. The official causes of the accident:
inattention and inexperience.
On Sept. 6, 1998, an informal race ended with death. One
boater, a 52-year-old man, lost control in a fairly narrow section of Bull
Shoals Lake in Marion County. His boat hit an area with large waves, came
out of the water and rolled 360 degrees, finally landing upright. The man,
not wearing a life jacket, was thrown from the boat and killed.
Last July 4, a fisherman on the Arkansas River near Little
Rock found the body of a man who fell off a boat two days earlier. The
man, without a life jacket, had decided to urinate off the front of a party
barge. He opened the barge's safety gate, fell off the boat and disappeared.
Drinking may have been involved.
"You've zeroed in on it," said Dick Bailey, owner of Shiloh
Marina in Greers Ferry and president of the Missouri-Arkansas Boat Dock
Owners Association. "It all boils down to a lack of education."
STATE LAWS
Until recently, state law has been lax on boating education
-- indeed, on basic boating safety.
Until 1995, a drunk boater faced, at most, six months
in jail and a \\$500 fine. Now, boating under the influence can earn up to
a year in jail, as much as a \\$5,000 fine and loss of the right to boat
for up to three years. If a boater refuses a blood-alcohol test -- as some
drunken drivers do -- he can lose his right to operate a motorboat for
six months.
Until 1995, life jackets were not mandatory, even for
children. Now, in most cases, anyone 12 or younger must wear a jacket,
and anyone on a personal watercraft must have one on.
A 1997 law, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2001, will require
young boaters to pass a state-approved boating-education course. The law
applies only to those born after 1985. Still, Potts said, that's a start.
In this year's session, lawmakers set up a list of rules
for personal watercraft -- better known by such brand names as Jet Ski
or Sea-Doo. They also passed a law requiring the owners of most motorboats
or of a personal watercraft to carry liability insurance of at least \\$50,000.
Of all those changes, the law requiring boating-safety
education might have the most long-term effect.
Here's how Danny Jones, who charters boats on Lake Ouachita,
sizes up the situation now: Someone can buy a boat one day and hit the
water the next, cruising 60 miles an hour across a lake, beer in hand.
When the course is in place in 18 months, Potts said,
it will stress "that there are no yellow lines. There are no intersections
or stop signs. And because of this, they have to be aware of everything
for a complete 360 degrees around their boat."
It will emphasize the importance of the few speed limits,
which kick in around parked boats, swimming areas, piers and shorelines.
It will have a section on alcohol, Potts said, pointing
out that alcohol is more of a problem on the water than on the road.
"The hot sun, the constant movement and motion of the
boat, the noise, the vibration of being on the water in a boat that is
moving, over time induces what is know as boater hypnosis or boater fatigue,"
he said. "After several hours, even only drinking water ... the operator
is going to be impaired to a point."
When alcohol is added to the mix, "it will impact the
boater more than it does a driver ... because you're dealing with an individual
who's already impaired just from ... being out there for several hours."
Moreover, he said, a sunny, 95-degree day increases the
rate at which one absorbs alcohol. Someone on a boat will get drunk more
quickly than someone sitting in a cool house.
The course will also stress how key the life jacket is
to survival.
There are lots of excuses for not wearing one -- they're
uncomfortable, bulky, heavy, hot. But they save lives.
On June 21, 1998, David Sherrell, 40, of Brockwell broke
his leg in a freak skiing accident on Norfork Lake near Mountain Home.
He lost his ski, twisted as he hit the water and broke his left femur --
a major thigh bone -- in four places.
The people in the boat didn't realize he'd been hurt,
so they didn't hurry back. Sherrell bobbed in the water, holding his leg
in pain. His jacket supported him and helped his rescuers get him into
a boat.
Bailey, the Greers Ferry marina owner, can't understand
why people don't wear their jackets.
"It tells you that they're not responsible for themselves,"
he said. "They're saying, 'I'm Superman and I can fly without a cape.'"
Personal watercraft the accident leader on major lakes, rivers
JEFF PORTER
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
They go by such names as Jet Ski, Sea-Doo, WaveRunner.
And on Arkansas busiest lakes and rivers, they run into things more often
than boats.
Last year, just 35 of the state s 115 reported boating
accidents involved personal watercraft. But that includes all accidents,
including those on small lakes and rivers, which see few such craft.
Looking at only collisions on major lakes and rivers,
W.H. "Butch" Potts, assistant boating administrator for the Game and Fish
Commission, found that personal watercraft were involved in 68 percent
of accidents, up from 60 percent in 1997.
A new state law might help change that.
In this year's legislative session, lawmakers set up rules
for personal watercraft based on model legislation from the Personal Watercraft
Industry Association. The regulations in Act 756, taking effect July 30,
include:
* The craft can be used only in the daytime from 30 minutes
before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.
* Children have to be 14 to operate one by themselves. Those
12 to 13 have to be accompanied by someone at least 18. Those under 12
must be monitored by someone at least 21 in a position to be able to take
immediate control of the craft.
* Safety rules cover such things as speeding, weaving through
traffic, becoming airborne, using a device to automatically stop the engine
if the operator falls off, and towing skiers.
* Renters of the craft must view a state-approved video before
hitting the water.
The trade group's model legislation suggests that users
must be at least 16 years old. But the association s executive director,
Larry Lambrose, said that's not a magic number. "Although Arkansas law
opts for a younger age, we supported it 100 percent."
Rep. Joyce Dees, a Democrat from Warren who sponsored
Act 756, said the original bill called for a minimum age of 16 but was
lowered because 14 is a more common age requirement in other states. If
the age proves to be too low, she said, it can be changed next session.
A May 1998 National Transportation Safety Board study
suggests that age is a factor in many personal watercraft accidents, and
Arkansas experience backs that up.
In 1997, the average age for personal-watercraft operators
involved in accidents was 23. The average age for those operating an open
motorboat, a catchall term for several types of craft that aren't houseboats,
was 39.
That same year, just one open-motorboat driver under 16
was involved in an accident: a 15-year-old. Personal-watercraft operators
involved in accidents included four 11-year-olds, a 12-year-old, seven
14-year-olds and five 15-year-olds.
A count of injuries to both operators and passengers under
16 showed 19 involved personal watercraft and just five involved open motorboats.
But Jet Skis and WaveRunners aren't dangerous if their
drivers know what they're doing.
Game and Fish Commission officer Stephanie Moudy said
she's ridden the craft herself and if the users just follow the rules,
it's a fun, safe ride. And manufacturers -- for example, Jet Ski-maker
Kawasaki -- point out that rescuers themselves have used the craft to save
lives.
But one Beaver Lake marina quit renting personal watercraft
four or five years ago. Joyce Bauer, who owns Lost Bridge Marina of Garfield
with her husband, said she saw too many people send their 8-year-olds out
on the water by themselves.
Moudy, too, has seen adults use the craft as baby-sitters.
She's told those parents, "Turn loose your son and give him the keys to
your car." The effect, she said, is about the same.
But youthful exuberance is not the only danger.
About 12:30 p.m. June 20, 1998, a woman told authorities
in Hot Spring County, a man rode a Jet Ski across Clearwater Lake and approached
the camp she and her husband had set up. The man was drunk beyond the ability
to do anything except stagger around the camp. He couldn't even sit down
in a chair. Instead, he broke two of them.
The husband asked the Traskwood man, who was 38, to leave.
The man did, on his Jet Ski.
Three hours later, his body was found not far away, floating
face down in 12 feet of water, 20 feet from the bank. The Jet Ski was floating
up against the bank.
These articles were published on Sunday, July 4, 1999