Six year old Snorkler killed by 13yo boater

[PARADISE HUNTER]

I agree with RonFrank. I see kids on Michigan lakes drive carelessly every weekend. There are multiple fatal accidents on local lakes every year. I also think the lakes are much more crowded today than twenty years ago. Jet skiis are much of the problem as well.

 

[ReefGuy]

Hence their true function: targets.

I find it ironic that divers are FORCED to display a dive flag TO WARN BOATERS there is a diver down ( at least in Fl ) but any one can drive a boat without any idea what the flag means !. It just doe's not make any sense at all.

 

[greg454]

Well, what about this Dive Flag? You'd have to be blind not to understand it.

http://www.diversdirect.com/item/Innovative Inflatable Float/Flag_ID5082

 

[H2Andy]

well.... if they're close enough to read the text, they're much too close for
comfort and it may be too late already

the key to dive flags is to create a "safety zone" around the divers into
which boats won't stray (100 feet, in case of Florida, i believe)

 

[Cacia]

nobody really respects them here...and it is not enforced. Better to have a sausage so the captains miss you out of concern for their prop. Even other commercial boats drive straight over divers in the water. Major miscalculation to count on a flag doing anything for you here except getting a check mark on your checklist when the CG checks your boat.

 

[H2Andy]

hey, C, that gives me an idea:

tow a HUGE sign that says "DANGER MINEFIELD"

they'll stay away then

 

[ReefGuy]

300' in open water, 100' in an inlet or river.

(100 feet, in case of Florida, i believe)

 

[SFLDiver]

From our local Sun Sentinel ...

Teen ordered held in death of young snorkeler off Key West

Associated Press
Posted June 2 2006, 12:00 PM EDT

KEY WEST -- A 13-year-old boy charged with speeding away after his boat struck and killed a young snorkeler will be kept in custody until his formal court arraignment later this month.

Monroe County Circuit Judge Sandra Taylor ordered Thursday the boy remain at a juvenile detention center for 21 days. Prosecutors had asked for the order, saying the teen was a flight risk because had had fled the scene of the Memorial Day accident.

The teenager is charged with vessel homicide, a first-degree felony punishable by 30 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines for an adult. Because he is under age 14, he would have to be indicted by a grand jury to be tried as an adult or waive his juvenile status.

``In general, it's safe to say those provisions are rarely used,'' said Matthew Helmerich, a spokesman for State Attorney Mark E. Kohl.

As a juvenile, he could avoid such a prison sentence and instead receive probation, deferred prosecution or commitment to a residential juvenile program, said Catherine Vogel, chief assistant state attorney.

He is accused of driving his 18-foot skiff over 6-year-old Charlie Smith, who was snorkeling off Key West with his father and a sibling, and then crashing into the Smiths' boat.

The funeral for Smith was scheduled for Friday.

 

[TCDiver1]

Its 200' away from a dive flag in Michigan. Getting caught to close buys a you pretty expensive coupon. Problem is marine patrols are pretty limited and they have a lot of area to cover. I end up doing the dance with at least one boater a year. Most act like they don't have clue what a dive flag is.

For what its worth, which isn't much IMO, everyone born after 1978 is required to take a boater safety course in Michigan.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Well, what about this Dive Flag? You'd have to be blind not to understand it.

http://www.diversdirect.com/item/Innovative Inflatable Float/Flag_ID5082

I know somebody that was being yanked out of the water towing one of those. Somebody saw the float and thought it was a freebie.
We have been yanked out of the water by Marine Patrol by our flag. I have seen prop wash from jet skis and boats.
Education clearly is the key. No boater safety course is gonna help unless they include what a dive flag is and what it means. Look how much education has helped the manatees.. now if we could get Marine Patrol to protect us like they do the manatees....