Fishermen See Boat off in the Distance, Then Begin to Abandon Ship
For fishermen, there are few things more relaxing than a day on the water.
But for three Oregon anglers, a peaceful day on the water last summer turned into a nightmare a few seconds after they noticed a bigger boat careening right towards their skiff. All three jumped off with only seconds to spare before the larger boat collided.
The crash can be seen in the video below.
As The Oregonian reports, Christopher McMahon, Bryan Maess, and Roni Durham were all fishing in the Columbia River on Aug. 12 when they spotted a boat being driven by 75-year-old Marlin Lee Larsen.
Larsen claims he could not see the smaller craft because the dashboard’s height blocked his view. His son-in-law told investigators that “he sometimes sees his father-in-law using his cell phone while driving the boat and that his father-in-law had been off-and-on his cell phone the morning of the crash,” The Oregonian reported.
Maess, citing injuries during his jump to safety, has filed a $372,000 lawsuit against Larsen.
The two other people who jumped to safety say they also plan to file suits against Larsen.
Regardless of what actually happened, Larsen was clearly not paying sufficient attention to the path of his boat. With a craft of that size, the speed and momentum alone can cause massive amounts of damage if it hits the wrong thing. Smaller boats can be torn to shreds, and the impact can be deadly for anyone around.
Examples of either inattentive captains or malfunctioning equipment can be seen all over the internet. Unfortunately, this is a problem that is too common.
Even in the hands of an attentive captain, sailing vessels that end up out of control can be extremely hazardous.
Below is a video of a whale-watching ship hitting a dock in San Diego. Seven people suffered minor injuries, according to NBC, and the captain told fire officials that the ship’s propulsion system had malfunctioned. Still, the damage the medium-sized ship did to the concrete dock is astonishing.
Distracted driving affects everyone — not just those behind the wheel of a car. Sometimes this can result in something as simple as a fender bender, but when the distracted operator is at the helm of a massive ship, things turn deadly very quick.
Share this on Facebook and Twitter to remind eveyone how important it is to stay in control of a moving vehicle at all times — whether on land or sea.
Have you ever had a close call like this?
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