Personal Injury Law

A two-boat crash on the Current River kills two Missourians

By Ryan Bradley, Esq.

A Missouri boat accident on the Current River over the weekend killed two, including a young boy, and injured three others. The accident took place on the river near Doniphan in Ripley County, Missouri.

According to the Missouri State Water Patrol, who are investigating the crash, the accident occurred as a 2005 Blazer Utility boat, driven by Radeena Proffer, 27, was traveling downstream. At the same time, a 2003 Blazer Utility boat, driven by Chad Mikel, 26, was traveling upstream. Both drivers tried to avoid a collision, but Proffer?s boat still crashed into Mikel?s on the port side.

Jerry Mote, 11, was thrown overboard and killed. His body would later be recovered by divers a half mile down from the accident scene. Josh Burson, 25, was also killed in the accident.

Neither of the deceased was wearing a life jacket at the time of the crash.

Proffer suffered moderate injures and was taken to Ripley County Memorial Hospital for treatment. Two other passengers, Michelle Lafferty, 32, and Michael Preslar, 35, were injured and taken to local hospitals. Lafferty?s injuries were listed as serious while Preslar?s were listed as minor.

The Missouri State Water Patrol is still investigating the exact cause of the crash. If one of the drivers is found to be negligent and caused the crash, the families of the deceased and injured may be able to recover damages by contacting a Missouri boat accident lawyer.

Often, Missouri boating accidents and resulting in a wrongful death are caused by inexperienced drivers who don?t know how to react in the face of an imminent crash. No details were released as to how experienced either driver was. Neither driver owned the boat he was driving and the boats? owners were not onboard. The first boat was owned by Drew Proffer and the second was owned by Rachel Mikel.

Full post as published by Missouri Accident Lawyer Blog on July 05, 2009 (boomark / email).