Personal Injury Law

Boating Accident on Lake St. Clair kills one and injures six

By LaBovick Law

The Holiday weekend continues to be deadly for boaters on the water. In a tragic boating accident accident on Lake St. Clair, one person was killed and six others hurt, after two boats collided around 1:00 am. The Sheriff's Department is investigating the boating accident and will reconstruct the accident to determine what went wrong in the water.

One boater. Michael Mielke contacted authorities after his 31-foot Formula was struck by the bow of a 1987 Wellcraft. Quick thinking Mielke called for help minutes after his boat started sinking into Lake St. Clair. According to reports, the 1987 Wellcraft was traveling at a high speed, maybe 50-miles per hour. The impact of the collision tossed almost all of the passengers in both boats into the water. The 27-year old driver of the Wellcraft, Eric Morey died from blunt force trauma according to authorities and sadly drowned in his sinking boat.

A total of six people were injured with mainly lacerations and broken bones except a twelve-year-old boy, who suffered major head trauma and is in critical condition. The only member of the Morey family on the Wellcraft that escaped injury was a 15-year-old boy.

The Lake St. Clair crash is under investigation and according to authorities, Morey was actually considered at-fault for this accident. The driver of the 31 Foot Formula, Mielke's tested negative for alcohol. It will take several weeks for the toxicology report for the deceased Morey to be completed.
We can't stress enough how important it is for boaters to exercise safety and caution while operating boats.

Please read below for boating accident statistics and boating safety tips from the American Boating Association. "Boating Safety – It could Mean Your Life"-   B E S A F E

KNOW YOUR...

Boat
Equipment
Safety devices and PFDs
Alcohol limits
First aid and emergency procedures
Environment (area and weather)

...BEFORE YOU GO!

In the most recent year with complete data, 701 lives were lost as a result of recreational boating accidents in the U.S. and its territories. BWI (Boating While Intoxicated) was identified as part of the problem in 31% of those fatalities. Operators with a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent (for most of us, that means just one to three beers) are 10 times as likely to be killed in a boating accident as a sober boater.

What about the remaining three deaths out of every four? Additional contributing factors were excessive speed and other improper operation, poor vision, faulty equipment, inadequate safety systems and devices, limited or inaccurate local knowledge, and ignorance of basic rules of the waterway. Take a few minutes to browse through the headings in this important section. ABA encourages every boater to be serious about boating safety, starting with the proper kind and amount of boater training. Remember, a boating mishap or fatality often involves innocent people who share in none of the blame, but all of the consequence. As a responsible boater, the life you save may very well be someone else's. Remember:  B E S A F E*

Full post as published by LaBovick Injury Law Blog on July 03, 2010 (boomark / email).