Lake Conroe TX bass boating collision kills 1 man

[WRB]

20 Feb 2016; Head collision between 2 bass boats traveling over 45 mph during a tournament kills 1 man, apparently drivers confused which way to turn to avoid accident.

Tom

 

[CJ]

The same thing happened in the KY/Barkley canal about 8 years ago. The co-angler was killed. I've seen this confusion happen often even with all the room on this big lake.

[F14A-B]

Thoughts & prayers to the family..

[BassnChris]

That's too bad.....prayers to the family.

 

[gulfcaptain]

NEVER TURN LEFT!!! In a crossing situation the boat to your right almost always has the right away and is a stand on vessel and the other is the give way vessel.  Always try and meet port to port in nautical terms or for those who don't know keep the other boat on your left.. These kind of stories are why EVERYONE should take a boating class and know the RULES OF THE ROAD!!!  Or even if you don't know what the other boat is going to do, slow down and wait and see, or stop.  Very sad.

[Darren.]

Very sad. Sorry to hear.

[ward131]

http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/2016/02/20/man-dies-after-boating-collision-lake-conroe/80661252/

[A-Jay]

3 hours ago, gulfcaptain said:

NEVER TURN LEFT!!! In a crossing situation the boat to your right almost always has the right away and is a stand on vessel and the other is the give way vessel.  Always try and meet port to port in nautical terms or for those who don't know keep the other boat on your left.. These kind of stories are why EVERYONE should take a boating class and know the RULES OF THE ROAD!!!  Or even if you don't know what the other boat is going to do, slow down and wait and see, or stop.  Very sad.

  Basic Navigational Knowledge ~

 ~ During any Meeting, Crossing or Passing Situation ~ If the Range (distance between vessels) Decreases and the Bearing (Heading) between the vessels Remains the Same - Collision is Imminent. 

 When Required, Always make course changes in these situations EARLY & OBVIUOS ! ! !

Small adjustment in course & speed are often difficult to detect and only cause confusion - this is Bad.  

A-Jay

[Ski213]

Very sad.  Prayers to all involved. 

[buzzed bait]

sad situation indeed, i'm always trying to be as careful as can be in my kayak on the bigger lakes, but this is a real fear of mine...

[A-Jay]

3 minutes ago, buzzed bait said:

sad situation indeed, i'm always trying to be as careful as can be in my kayak on the bigger lakes, but this is a real fear of mine...

Mine Too ~

A-Jay

[S. Sass]

Quote

Authorities said both drivers thought the other would change direction.

Now I am confused. Do what? How the heck...  I don't get it how do you turn back into traffic and not be drinking or somewhat impaired? To me this is like driving on the highway you don't maintain speed, and you sure don't turn into on coming traffic, if you see a possible car riding the center line.  

Something doesn't sound right about this. 

This is very sad. 

 

 

[WRB]

When you have 2 boats coming at each other each driver moves to thier right to widen the space, the problem is indecision at high speeds with the boats closing at 150' per second.

The mistake was neither driver slowed or made a obvious turn, waiting for the other driver to yield. The Basscat was struck on the passenger side indicating to me the driver apparently made a move to the left instead of moving right.

In California we don't have boating safety requirement to operate a fresh water vessels and we should!

Tom

[frogflogger]

It boggles my mind that anyone can buy a boat that can go 40 to 70 mph and take it out on the waters without any training - I'm not a big one for over regulation but after many years on fresh and salt water I've seen far too many near misses, accidents and some deaths.

Even a canoe paddler should know the rules of the road.

[A-Jay]

The incident noted in the OP’s original post is no doubt tragic.  But it was also no doubt 100% human error and totally avoidable. This wasn’t an “Accident” or an Act of God, both vessel operators made terrible decisions that go way beyond poor judgement.  Loss of life, worst case scenario. 

On the highways & by ways of America, there are signs, and lights, directional arrows & painted lines on the road.  There’s even a fairly well know set of rules that govern every aspect of who should go where & when.

And even still, with all that – people seem to be smashing into each other every minute of every day.

With the exception of a few buoys & a few other aids to navigation, mariners have little to guide them as they transit lakes, rivers & oceans.

The most Successful & Safest Operators plan for these situations in advance.  They Know & Understand the rules of Good Seamanship and what to do in each situation and most importantly are prepared to do it.   Counting on “The Other Guy” to know what to do or to “Move Over” is equal to playing Russian Roulette, and in this case it was at a closing speed of 90 mph !  There's NO Time ~ a few seconds of indecision or hesitation to act can be the difference between a good day on the water and something else entirely.

Preparation equals performance – you can’t expect to perform if you’re not prepared.

It may only happen one time in your entire boating life – but the consequences of a lack of preparation can as in this case, be fatal

I’ve seen it.

A-Jay

[BassnChris]

The first thing I did when I bought my first boat was attend a boater safety class.

My son and wife are scheduled to take the class next month.......they do not currently operate the boat.

I think everyone should have to take the course too......anyone operating a 'vessel' on the water.....just like bicycles are considered vehicles and must obey traffic laws.....canoes and kayaks should follow the same boater rules.

[Tracker22]

I don't think you would be surprised at how many people don't have a clue. Last year I fished with a friend that has boated for decades. When I told him he was turning the wrong direction in oncoming traffic he argued with me. I actually had to pull out the iPad and show him.

My sympathy to the families.

[Bass newb]

4 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Mine Too ~

A-Jay

Some a hole flew by in front me when I was on my board at night with full red green and white nav lights. He came by within 10 yards going at least 35 40 mph. He probably thought he was being cute.

[FrogFreak]

I'm always worried about the other guy when I go past someone. Usually I give them tons of room but there are times that there isn't a ton of room to begin with. I feel horrible for the family and friends on this one. It sounds like someone did something wrong for sure. 

I started out boating in the Pacific Ocean with my Grandfather. He taught me a lot about boating for sure. I was also out with a buddy last summer and he didn't know to veer to the right when approaching another boat head on. It baffles me. Just do a little research. Heck we spend hours and hours reviewing rods, reels and lures, how about simple boat safety?

[Ohio Archer]

If I see someone coming at me or on a crossing path I will generally turn away from them long before we get close.  If there is not enough room to make a large turn I will come off plane  and turn away from them.  There is no way to tell if they see you or not.  Sometimes it is just better to give ground than fight for position. 

Prayers to the families.

[U-boat Aficionado]

4 hours ago, frogflogger said:

It boggles my mind that anyone can buy a boat that can go 40 to 70 mph and take it out on the waters without any training - I'm not a big one for over regulation but after many years on fresh and salt water I've seen far too many near misses, accidents and some deaths.

Even a canoe paddler should know the rules of the road.

I live on the water and, when it's not frozen, watch on a near daily basis the idiotic things people do in boats. The only thing that surprises me is there aren't more accidents.

When I'm out in my canoe, and that's nearly every evening when the water is warm enough where I'm not afraid of falling in, my head is on a swivel and I stick close to shore. If it's a crowded weekend I don't go out. Even being as careful as possible I've had jerks almost run me down. Worse are the jetskis people buy for their kids. Talk about maddening, what a way to ruin everyone else's enjoyment of being on the water. 

[Cgolf]

This sounds like a terrible accident that could have been avoided, I noticed that this lake in particular seemed to have more accidents then normal. We just had a drowning a few days ago here, but not a lot of collisions get reported here. Is there something with this body of water that makes navigation difficult? 

I have seen my share of idiots on the lake, from bass boats to jet skis, thankfully I have never had a close call, other then getting buzzed a few times in a channel. 

Regardless of the reason for the collision, my heart goes out to the guys family, terrible thing to have happen. 

[Airman4754]

The dumbest thing I see and have to navigate around every year are fairly small lakes with a ton of ski boats on them with no enforced pattern. It's just a bunch of boats doing whatever they feel like at high speeds with people all over in the water. That is the fault of the enforcers as there should always be a very visible and posted ski route on every body of water. 

I do my best to keep to the outer edge and get through it and out of it as fast as possible. Everyone has to have a boater's license here, but you'd never be able to tell on lakes. Rivers and salt water are totally different though. 

[NorcalBassin]

Wow, just terrible. It seems like it would be natural for anyone that drives a car to just stay to the right in these situations, but that's obviously not the case. Hopefully this at least raises some awareness and decreases the likelihood of it happening again.

[Bankbeater]

Sad news. Sorry it happened.