Hit & Run on Scallop diver - Florida

[tarponchik]

Flare guns used as a supplement to the dive flag for signaling the presence of divers would likely be effective--fired directly at the offending boat traffic.

You'll need Gatling guns, not flare guns

 

[tarponchik]

It’s pretty ignorant to say they are useless, because some idiot ignores it and did something stupid. IMO.

Precisely the reason why I said they are useless: some idiot can ignore it, do something stupid, and get away with it. If I get down to details, dive flags are useless when divers are at 25-100 ft because no boat can harm them there. And when divers surface, sausages work just as well as dive flags.

 

[gmerick]

Flags are useful. Courteous boaters will try to avoid the area where a flag is seen - even much further away than the desired 50'. When fishing they will take note of the flag and not cast hooks in the general direction.
Use the flag to avoid causing or taking offense.
Then there's the boaters who ignore no-wake zones, speed limits, horsepower limits, and every other courtesy of a lake community. The flags are not intended for them, as flags, too, will be ignored.

 

[Billg68bg]

Precisely the reason why I said they are useless: some idiot can ignore it, do something stupid, and get away with it. If I get down to details, dive flags are useless when divers are at 25-100 ft because no boat can harm them there. And when divers surface, sausages work just as well as dive flags.

Just because a small, and likely minute, amount of people ignore or don’t understand the purpose of a tool, that does not render it useless. There are many tools in everyday life that some choose to ignore, but are effective tools nonetheless.

 

[Nemrod]

This is what results from the continued coarsening of society. The Golden Rule and treating others as you would wish to be treated is replaced by what me wants right now and nobody else counts. Having done a lot of diving, driving and boating in Florida for decades it has gotten worse, particularly but not exclusively in South Florida. The automobile driving rudeness on shore reflects the boating rudeness off the shore. It is not everyone, of course not, but more than a small minority, I would say somewhere between 25% and 35%. Cannot see who might be about to be run over if texting on the cell phone or taking selfies to post on some social web media.

I hope he gets healed up, yes, very bad and upsetting. Scallop season is supposed to be a fun time.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I think people do realize the meaning of the flag. One time diving off this lakeside park, people in the park expressed concern for a boat fishing within 300 yards (when there's signs and buoys stating to stay outside). These people didn't see my buddy and I go in, but they understood what it meant.

Now that didn't help with the person ignoring a number of things (flag, multiple signs staying away, etc), but we never record the times in which people comply with safety regulations. We only notice those who violate it.

I encourage further education. Yes, there are some people who just don't care, but there might be some people who are simply uninformed and upon a bit of education, their behavior changes as they become aware of the issues.

 

[ofg-1]

Look, this is Florida. Its hard to drive a boat when you re coming off meth.

 

[Belzelbub]

If they find the guy, chances are the penalty will be insignificant.

I hope that’s not the case.

Know about a similar case and an ER doctor was the boat driver, and he stopped, saw the damage and then took off. Chopped off both legs, think his fine was about $10 per toe (maybe $20). They caught him immediately, even though he ran for a different inlet than he normally would use.

I’m familiar with this case as well. I knew the victim via a couple other forums before and after.

I’m not sure about the official penalties, though there may have been a loophole that was exploited for the defense.*

There was also a civil suit, and I believe some professional ramifications. A friend of mine is a Dr and high ranking member of a Florida DO board. She’s currently a diver, but wasn’t at the time of the incident. Her knowledge of it comes through her profession, so I’m thinking there were professional sanctions of some kind.

*The loophole is that the dive flag used didn’t officially meet the legal requirements. Effectively, it was highly visible and was even shown on USCG video before the incident. The flag was significantly larger than required. IIRC, it was something like 3’x5’. It lacked a stiffener, though. Effectively, it was way more visible than legally required, but didn’t meet the letter of the law.

 

[Belzelbub]

I think people do realize the meaning of the flag. One time diving off this lakeside park, people in the park expressed concern for a boat fishing within 300 yards (when there's signs and buoys stating to stay outside). These people didn't see my buddy and I go in, but they understood what it meant.

Maybe people do understand it, but if so, many boaters don’t care. Before I got a boat, I took a boating course. Dive flags were discussed in the course, and I’d like to think that most of the students were there to learn. I was probably the youngest person in the class, and exempt from the boater education requirement in Florida since I was born before the cutoff date in the FL law.

I encourage further education. Yes, there are some people who just don't care, but there might be some people who are simply uninformed and upon a bit of education, their behavior changes as they become aware of the issues.

I agree. Education is definitely the first step. From my experience on the water, the dive flag is THE most common flag that boaters will encounter that has legal implications. Hopefully as more boaters are required to take a course, this will improve.

I don’t believe the boater in question cares at all. During scallop season, the area in question is absolutely littered with boats with divers in the water. The vast majority are properly displaying flags. It is literally a sea of boats. But, they are in a narrow, and fairly shallow depth range. Under 10’. If you want to run on plane, you just need to go to a little deeper water.

 

[Thunder Struck]

You'll need Gatling guns, not flare guns

With a 4:1 ball to tracer mix, it identifies as a flare gun.