Kill switch and life jacket are a must!

[Rick Hale]

Some of you may have seen this -- bass boat crash



Rick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UEETjztLqI

 

[Ken Neeley]

Couple of things....



First....thank God he's alive.

Second....the dude should learn to drive a boat

And last....why did they leave him in the water for 10 freakin' minutes???

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

WOWOWO thats scary!

 

[TritonGlenn]

Looks like a Jet Ski driver that bought his first bass boat. You don't go jumping wakes if you don't have to, and if you replace that boat with a Jet Ski in the picture, you will understand what I'm talking about. He was jumping wakes on purpose, and doing it very close to the camera boat. Why? I've had to go over wakes several times in the past, but I knew how to drive, did it carefully, and never did it that fast.



Neeley,

They probably left him in the water that long because he was breathing, floating upright, and they weren't sure whether he broke his back / neck or not. I'd want them to leave me in the water in that case too - wait until I become concious, or wait until qualified medical help gets there to put me on a back board. I wouldn't want to be paralyzed for the rest of my life. First hand experience with this one: My father was killed in a boat accident, along with some friends of his. There "were" two survivors to begin with. One was laying in the bottom of the boat, moaning "help me..." So the other one picked him off the floor, and he died right there. He had a broken neck, and his buddy didn't' know at the time.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[Marty Klein]

Possibly a concern re: broken back/neck. While stabilization is critical, movement could also be fatal.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Too much horsepower......not enough brainpower. He was showin off plain and simple and chit always happens when you are jacking around...always!! I don't think he was a bad boat driver but he was showboating for the camera and paid the price.



TOXIC

 

[Barry Dufour]

Man, was he lucky!!!! That's why I also said that there should be some type of mandatory training before anyone can drive a boat. They already have it for cars, motorcycles and large trucks.

Barry from La.

 

[Bill Hamilton]

Used boat for sale. Only been airborne once! Call BoatFax for info.

 

[Ken Neeley]

Makes sense Glenn.

 

[fatrap]

Natural Selection

fatrap

 

[David Massey]

On Barry's comment about training. Here in Washington state they are implementing a certification that anyone who operates a boat must have a special license. There is no driving test required but at least it is a step in the right direction in my opinion.

 

[Mebassn]

Training couldn't have prevented this... only common sense. As glenn stated, looked like a joy ride on a jet ski and not a driver of a true hp bassboat

 

[Berry Lindley]

Fatrap, that there is just wrong. Funny, but wrong.

 

[Jim B]

From what i read on comments section of the video the driver is an "experienced" bass boat operator. He made a mistake for sure, a big one that easily could have cost him his life. He is very lucky.



davidikus they implimented that exact thing in New Hampshire a few years back whee you have to take a course and take a teast to get a safe boater cert before you could operate a boat in the state. While I think its a great idea to get people in safe boater courses it really is a peice of "feel good" legislation. The reality is the same people that were crazy nuts on the lakes i boat on are still doing the same crap, its changed nothing.

 

[Pierre Voisine]

Stabilization is critical, but the spine is not stabilized flaoting in the water. In this case, getting him out and stable on a solid surface would have been key....so yes Neeley my question is what were they waiting for ? Then left him face down on the back of the boat WTF?!?!?



I was expecting him to hit one of those pillars, flying around at thiese speeds close to boats pillars etc....



Can't regulate stupidity.



Apparently his last words before the accident were: Watch this!

 

[BK McKenney]

I suppose it took them about 10min to get the camera boat stopped and to him. I would think someone got in the water with him immediatley and manualey stabalized his spine. If the water wasn't cold the best bet would be to leave him in the water with a caregiver who has manual stabilization. Then waiting on a backboard before trying to lift him out of the water. If hypothermia was a concern I could see risking spinal injury, but only if a backboard was going to take an extended period to get to the scene.



He was just trying to have fun and it went badly. I am sure that the video has changed someones thought on lifevest/kill switches. Thanks for posting.

 

[Mark Jaworski]

Im glad he is OK,



However, not to bright if you ask me. Stupidity will get you where he is!!!!



Mark

 

[fatrap]

I bought a sign in Yellowstone a couple years ago. It hangs in my cartoon studio. It says "Ain't NO Fixin' Stupid"



fatrap

 

[Bill McElroy]

What an idiot..........and I see stuff like that (not necessarily crashes,...but people doing DUMB things that are accidents in the making!!) ALL the time.....really surprised serious accidents don't happen more often given the number of people I see doing stupid stuff w/bass and jet boats, jet ski's and scarab's etc.



You BETTER respect the water and that horsepower or it'll bite you BAD!! Like Jaws and other's said,...Glad he's okay, but ya deff CAN'T fix stupid!!:angry::wacko:

 

[Tim Koepp]

I took a moment to read the comments on the video. the poster blatantly stated he would approve only "positive" comments.



I'm pretty darn positive that this was an act of forgetfullness.. he forgot his brain on the dock.



Glad he's ok, but willing to bet previous bad acts led up to this.

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Good Grief!!! The exact time I saw him getting ready to cross that wake I said to myself, "Oh chit, here we go!" I have never liked crossing someones wake like that and that's if I take it easy.. It looked to me that had he not been hooked up with his kill switch, that motor would have gotten him or come very close.



Glenn, I'm truly sorry about your Dad and friends.



One of the big fights and fusses I get into every year with the Salt water crowd is that they should all use kill switches. I would bet, just by personal experience, that only maybe 15% of the boats out here on the South River (South of Annapolis and where you ate Crabs Mac) and in the Chesapeake Bay. Usually they tell me that they don't need it because their boats are bigger and they're not going to fall out, etc.. I then ask what would happen if they hit that giant wave the big 60' Cruiser left, fell from behind the wheel and got knocked out? Then their boat could run, with those twin 455's humming, and run into another boat killing the people on board or running into a swimming area and killing the children and Mother's there or any of a hundred other scenarios? "Oh, that's not going to happen" is the usual answer even when they know they're being idiotic!:angry: So what was some of the other's saying here?

You Can't Fix Stupid?.. That's so right..



Uncle Billy

 

[Michael Meier]

Trimmed out and hauling over a wake??



* Notice Greg is a certified dumb ass for trying to jump a wake trimmed out and running that fast.



* Notice that not always does the good lord preen the herd of the week, stupid, and genetically abnormal. He gave this one a life vest, but maybe he disabled the working parts to eliminate breeding??? We can only hope..........

 

[TRCM]

Just another note....YEs, a kill switch and life jacket are a must have in my rig whenever the big engine is turning more then 800 rpm...........



But 1 thing very few people do......check your kill switch every trip ! I ALWAYS test mine before I ever pull away from the dock.



I let the engine warm up while I get my depth finders and such turned on and ready. I then sit down and put on my life jacket and goggles on and make sure it fits well and the goggles are clean. I then pull my kill switch to make sure it kills the engine, and then and only then does it get connected to the lifejacket and I am ready to go.



A kill switch is a false sense of security if it don't work !!

 

[Mark Gross]

I was selling my 901 a couple years back and let the guy buying it drive it. He hit a four foot roller off a river houseboat. Two different eye witness's to the accident said the boat was vertical and the prop was atleast eight feet of the water. I was lucky because I had no life jacket no kill switch. By the grace of God I stayed in the boat. The wreck killed the motor,literally ! The driver was ejected and unhurt. I



Rules for new boat no one drives it but me ! always wear a kill switch and I never take my lifejacket off. period.