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Memorial Day in so cal is ridiculous


MotoDane250

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Right up the road from me at one of our local lakes a man was killed on a tube today when the driver slammed his rider into another boat. The driver was drunk and this comes at no surprise to me. The lakes down here always get extremely crowded on this day and the people here can be extremely stupid. It makes me glad i was at home installing the new stereo for the 'bu rather than dealing with all the craziness going on at the lakes. While i was watching the news, this was just about the top story seeing as that it is local and in the video they showed the rider was apparently riding a wego kite tube. It surprised me to hear that the man had not died from flying it because that is what i had expected after watching all these kite tube crash videos and such. It is very sad that this had happened and i wish people would use more sense than to decide to pull a person behind your boat in an intoxicated state of being.

Well here is a link to the story.

Lake Pyramid death

Anyways I hope all of you had a great holiday.

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Looks from the video that there was a lot of traffic for pulling a tube... but there is no excuse for drinking and driving.

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That looks like a Wego kite...

THose things are obviously not very safe.

It doesn't matter what kind of tube it was in this case. If the driver is drunk, it would not have made any difference. I know this has been debated before here, but I'm glad that there is no alcohol allowed in the state park lakes in Ohio.

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That looks like a Wego kite...

THose things are obviously not very safe.

It doesn't matter what kind of tube it was in this case. If the driver is drunk, it would not have made any difference. I know this has been debated before here, but I'm glad that there is no alcohol allowed in the state park lakes in Ohio.

I saw 4 of those Kite tubes this weekend on the lake. This must be this years craze. I never saw one go further up than 10' but at 35 mph I don't know if I want to hit the water from even 10 feet up. Here in VA they are all over and at Overton's they are pushing the sale of them big time. I think I will stay on the ground for now.

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That looks like a Wego kite...

THose things are obviously not very safe.

It doesn't matter what kind of tube it was in this case. If the driver is drunk, it would not have made any difference.

I agree. The person on the tube for the most part is completely at the mercy of the person driving the boat. In this case, obviously an idiot. The guy driving the boat apparently was heading right for a stopped boat, swerved to miss the boat, and in so doing whipped the poor guy on the tube right into the stopped boat. Clearly the responsibility for the well being of the person being towed lies with the driver. He was probably going too fast as well, but you don't have to be going too fast when you whip the tube into a fixed object.

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I'll probably get bashed for this, but I'm sick of idiots blaming their behavior on alcohol. No, the alcohol doesn't help, but I guarantee that this jack@ss would slam a rider into something when he's sober. These people are idiots to begin with; the alcohol just increases the level of their stupidity. We don't go out on holiday weekends for that reason. The three-times-a-year (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day) folks are a consistent source of stupidity and danger. I do not believe that ALL of them are drunk. I believe many of them just don't know what they're doing/don't realize how little they know. I'm not claiming to know it all or that nothing will ever happen to me. I'm just saying that blaming the alcohol for the behavior is misplacing the guilt. I've been drunk before and done stupid stuff, but I'm responsible for that behavior, not the brewery. I don't drink and drive my boats, so don't think my message is that drinking and driving is OK for some. My message is just that this guy and his buddy were going to hurt someone whether they were drinking or not. Alcohol was a factor in this case, but stupidity and irresponsibility are the primary causes. And the only thing that we can do to fix that is to hold this driver accountable for his actions and not let him shirk his responsibility by claiming that the alcohol did it.

I feel a lot less threatened by a guy driving a pontoon at 8 mph who's had a 12-pack then by a twenty-something pulling a tuber behind his Baja trying to create a "hey, y'all, watch this" moment.

Edited by billb
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We were on Folsom at 7AM until about 9:30AM on Monday and it was pretty empty. However, my son and I went mountain biking later that day on a trail that runs above the shore of the lake and I could see and hear that the water was a mad house.

When we returned to our car, every yahoo who decided to crawl out from under their rock was in or near the water. What a crazy place.

It just reminded me why I do not like going to the lake on holiday weekends.

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I'll probably get bashed for this, but I'm sick of idiots blaming their behavior on alcohol. No, the alcohol doesn't help, but I guarantee that this jack@ss would slam a rider into something when he's sober. These people are idiots to begin with; the alcohol just increases the level of their stupidity. We don't go out on holiday weekends for that reason. The three-times-a-year (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day) folks are a consistent source of stupidy and danger. I do not believe that ALL of them are drunk. I believe many of them just don't know what they're doing/don't realize how little they know. I'm not claiming to know it all or that nothing will ever happen to me. I'm just saying that blaming the alcohol for the behavior is misplacing the guilt. I've been drunk before and done stupid stuff, but I'm responsible for that behavior, not the brewery. I don't drink and drive my boats, so don't think my message is that drinking and driving is OK for some. My message is just that this guy and his buddy were going to hurt someone whether they were drinking or not. Alcohol was a factor in this case, but stupidity and irresponsibility are the primary causes. And the only thing that we can do to fix that is to hold this driver accountable for his actions and not let him shirk his responsibility by claiming that the alcohol did it.

I feel a lot less threatened by a guy driving a pontoon at 8 mph who's had a 12-pack then by a twenty-something pulling a tuber behind his Baja trying to create a "hey, y'all, watch this" moment.

I agree with you that the driver is responsible and should be held accountable for his actions. However, if you can't drive a car and drink at the same time, why should you be allowed to do it in a boat. I don't have a problem with alcohol on the boat, but the driver should be alcohol free. Using your example, I would never want a guy driving a pontoon who's had a 12 pack anywhere near my family while we're on the water.

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I feel a lot less threatened by a guy driving a pontoon at 8 mph who's had a 12-pack then by a twenty-something pulling a tuber behind his Baja trying to create a "hey, y'all, watch this" moment.

What's with the hating on the twenty-somethings? Being young is worse than drinking and driving? I'm 25 and I operate my boat in a safer manner than 99% of the people out there, ESPECIALLY the drunk old men driving jet skis 20 feet from us pulling a boarder just so they can ogle our women.

I'm not saying there aren't alot of young and stupid people out there but there are alot of old and stupid people out there too.

I've read that 90% of boating fatalities involve alcohol. Somehow I missed the part where 90% of the fatalities involved twenty-somethings.

And don't get me wrong, there is usually as much alcohol on our boat as there is ballast and everybody has a good time with it EXCEPT the driver.

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We were on Folsom at 7AM until about 9:30AM on Monday and it was pretty empty. However, my son and I went mountain biking later that day on a trail that runs above the shore of the lake and I could see and hear that the water was a mad house.

When we returned to our car, every yahoo who decided to crawl out from under their rock was in or near the water. What a crazy place.

It just reminded me why I do not like going to the lake on holiday weekends.

Some of the best viewing is at Folsom. Grab a chair and a 6-pack of water and watch the launch ramps, probably some of the greatest wally watching ever.

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I agree with billb. This weekend we saw a guy in big Cobalt pulling his kids on a tube in a small circle with 2 of his jet ski freinds chasing the tube. Talk about dumb@a**!!!

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I don't hate twenty-somethings. Like you, I've seen irresponsible folks in all age groups. I was just trying to describe a mentality more than anything else. I don't even hate people who drink, as long as they don't do stupid (dangerous) stuff when they're drinking. That was the point of my post - these guys are idiots and were going to hurt someone regardless of what their blood-alcohol level was. I'm tired of them blaming the beer for their stupidity.

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Unfortunately, the logistics of the tube rider/boat driver combo does not allow the theory of Darwinism to blossom ... i.e. the tube rider dies while the drunk boat driver lives to breed again...

Edited by rts
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What kind of person would get in a tube and let a drunk person tow them?

A drunk person. The driver will take all the blame but, there's plenty of fault to go around.

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This past weekend I had two friends of mine with us that had never been on our boat before. I asked the wife if she'd like to drive. Once she got behind the wheel and asked what to do I said just imagine everyone on the lake is drunk and no one sees you and drive like that.

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Someone on our lake purchased one of those WEGO's (Kite tube). we used my boat on Sunday to pull it, the water was too choppy to ski, do to the wind, not alot of boats surprisingly enough. As long as you know how to drive, they are pretty safe and fun.( Not too many people know how to drive). Crazy.gif I rode it and was up about 20 ft in the air, it does take a toll on your arms. I did flip upside down while I was up in the air, I let go for fear of being under the tube when it hit the water and free fell for 10-15 ft, it didn't hurt. It was actually a pretty cool ride. The waiting, of when was I going to finally hit the water.... Rockon.gif

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I'll probably get bashed for this, but I'm sick of idiots blaming their behavior on alcohol. No, the alcohol doesn't help, but I guarantee that this jack@ss would slam a rider into something when he's sober. These people are idiots to begin with; the alcohol just increases the level of their stupidity. We don't go out on holiday weekends for that reason. The three-times-a-year (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day) folks are a consistent source of stupidy and danger. I do not believe that ALL of them are drunk. I believe many of them just don't know what they're doing/don't realize how little they know. I'm not claiming to know it all or that nothing will ever happen to me. I'm just saying that blaming the alcohol for the behavior is misplacing the guilt. I've been drunk before and done stupid stuff, but I'm responsible for that behavior, not the brewery. I don't drink and drive my boats, so don't think my message is that drinking and driving is OK for some. My message is just that this guy and his buddy were going to hurt someone whether they were drinking or not. Alcohol was a factor in this case, but stupidity and irresponsibility are the primary causes. And the only thing that we can do to fix that is to hold this driver accountable for his actions and not let him shirk his responsibility by claiming that the alcohol did it.

I feel a lot less threatened by a guy driving a pontoon at 8 mph who's had a 12-pack then by a twenty-something pulling a tuber behind his Baja trying to create a "hey, y'all, watch this" moment.

I'll disagree with you for one reason. I was out all weekend, and while I was pulling the tube, I noticed one thing. You have to pay a lot of attention to the tube behind the boat. I'd be willing to bet that most of the alcohol related accidents in cars are not due to the fac that the driver is a bad driver due to the alcohol. It's because you are much more likely to be distracted when you're drunk. For anybody that's been drunk, you know this is true. I NEVER drink when I drive the boat for this reason. Not because it affects my reaction time. But because it helps you become distracted. You start paying attention to whipping the tube behind you around, and forget to look forward again.

You are right about one thing. You should be accountable for your actions. But I'm 24, and I drive our boat safer than most of the people on our lake. It's hard to pay attention where you're driving when you're pulling a tube. Your bow is way up in the air, you're whipping the guy around, so you want to see what he's doing. Then you're laughing, and oh wait, i forgot to look around for that other boat who is parked off to the side. or other boat that also pulling a tube and not watching what he's doing. There are plenty of those "I just looked down for a second" accidents in cars, and those are with people driving in the same direction on well marked roads.

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I ski on the largest lake in NJ and therefore it has the most boats on it. I only ski in the very early morning and then get the heck off the water. i do go back periodically at the busy time just to watch the fun and games at the ramp, but the Bu' doesn;t move after 9:30 a.m. on the weekends.

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I'll probably get bashed for this, but I'm sick of idiots blaming their behavior on alcohol. No, the alcohol doesn't help, but I guarantee that this jack@ss would slam a rider into something when he's sober. These people are idiots to begin with; the alcohol just increases the level of their stupidity. We don't go out on holiday weekends for that reason. The three-times-a-year (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day) folks are a consistent source of stupidy and danger. I do not believe that ALL of them are drunk. I believe many of them just don't know what they're doing/don't realize how little they know. I'm not claiming to know it all or that nothing will ever happen to me. I'm just saying that blaming the alcohol for the behavior is misplacing the guilt. I've been drunk before and done stupid stuff, but I'm responsible for that behavior, not the brewery. I don't drink and drive my boats, so don't think my message is that drinking and driving is OK for some. My message is just that this guy and his buddy were going to hurt someone whether they were drinking or not. Alcohol was a factor in this case, but stupidity and irresponsibility are the primary causes. And the only thing that we can do to fix that is to hold this driver accountable for his actions and not let him shirk his responsibility by claiming that the alcohol did it.

I feel a lot less threatened by a guy driving a pontoon at 8 mph who's had a 12-pack then by a twenty-something pulling a tuber behind his Baja trying to create a "hey, y'all, watch this" moment.

"shirk his responsibilities by claiming that alcohol did it?" What are you talking about? He's being charged with manslaughter BECAUSE of suspected alcohol use. Not near as likely if he had not, and was just an accident. Alcohol is not a mitigating factor, it is an aggravating factor. Do you really think that, that alcohol is defense?

You "guarantee" that that driver would have done the same thing sober? If you really think that, then we'll just have to disagree.

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So one death at Lake Pyramid...What was happening at at the river over Memorial Day? How many people got run over/missing from Lake Havasu and the Parker Strip?

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Found it online in the Havasu News Herald....

http://www.havasunews.com/articles/2006/06...ws/parker03.txt

A reported safe Memorial Day Weekend in Parker….Only 35 alcohol-related arrests, including 11 for DUI, 6 for extreme DUI, 3 for aggravated DUI, 6 for OUI (operating a watercraft), 3 for extreme OUI, 1 for open container, and 5 for minors possessing or consuming alcohol…

http://www.havasunews.com/articles/2006/05...news/news03.txt

19 Women arrested for possessing alcohol at London Bridge Bach Park…Revelers happy to be on beach without boat because they did not want to wait in a 3 hour line to launch their boat…one man and one women arrested for indecent exposure.

This is not the Memorial Day Weekend at Lake Havasu that I remember. :lol:

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I'll probably get bashed for this, but I'm sick of idiots blaming their behavior on alcohol. No, the alcohol doesn't help, but I guarantee that this jack@ss would slam a rider into something when he's sober. These people are idiots to begin with; the alcohol just increases the level of their stupidity. We don't go out on holiday weekends for that reason. The three-times-a-year (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day) folks are a consistent source of stupidy and danger. I do not believe that ALL of them are drunk. I believe many of them just don't know what they're doing/don't realize how little they know. I'm not claiming to know it all or that nothing will ever happen to me. I'm just saying that blaming the alcohol for the behavior is misplacing the guilt. I've been drunk before and done stupid stuff, but I'm responsible for that behavior, not the brewery. I don't drink and drive my boats, so don't think my message is that drinking and driving is OK for some. My message is just that this guy and his buddy were going to hurt someone whether they were drinking or not. Alcohol was a factor in this case, but stupidity and irresponsibility are the primary causes. And the only thing that we can do to fix that is to hold this driver accountable for his actions and not let him shirk his responsibility by claiming that the alcohol did it.

I feel a lot less threatened by a guy driving a pontoon at 8 mph who's had a 12-pack then by a twenty-something pulling a tuber behind his Baja trying to create a "hey, y'all, watch this" moment.

I'll disagree with you for one reason. I was out all weekend, and while I was pulling the tube, I noticed one thing. You have to pay a lot of attention to the tube behind the boat. I'd be willing to bet that most of the alcohol related accidents in cars are not due to the fac that the driver is a bad driver due to the alcohol. It's because you are much more likely to be distracted when you're drunk. For anybody that's been drunk, you know this is true. I NEVER drink when I drive the boat for this reason. Not because it affects my reaction time. But because it helps you become distracted. You start paying attention to whipping the tube behind you around, and forget to look forward again.

You are right about one thing. You should be accountable for your actions. But I'm 24, and I drive our boat safer than most of the people on our lake. It's hard to pay attention where you're driving when you're pulling a tube. Your bow is way up in the air, you're whipping the guy around, so you want to see what he's doing. Then you're laughing, and oh wait, i forgot to look around for that other boat who is parked off to the side. or other boat that also pulling a tube and not watching what he's doing. There are plenty of those "I just looked down for a second" accidents in cars, and those are with people driving in the same direction on well marked roads.

I agree with you Billb. Here is my slant on it....

It sounds to me like it was pretty stupid to be pulling a tube if it was very crowded. Sounds like the driver does not know how/when to pull a tube either. The driver was so close to a boat that he had to make an evasive move to avoid a collision. Then he was also pulling the tube too close to a stationary boat. Maybe he should have come to a stop and got his rider out of the water. Kind of hard to second guess, but it just seems to me that it was too crowded/dangerous, and he was probably pulling too fast.

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I do not drink when operating the boat but, have been around people that are more competant half baked or over .08 than 95% of the gen pop. Hell, some of the people I know operate better when half baked than normal so go figure? KC

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Hell, some of the people I know operate better when half baked than normal so go figure? KC

That's because they are not only experts at operating a boat but, getting half baked as well. Crazy.gif

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