Updated July 12, 2011, at 5:13 p.m.
By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net
MOORESVILLE – Lake Norman Marine Commission members agreed Monday to explore requiring certification or licenses for people who rent boats on the lake. The proposal, which still faces hurdles, came as the board discussed a June 25 accident in Mooresville in which a rental boat driver backed over and seriously injured a 25-year-old Charlotte woman.
Listen to an audio replay of
the discussion at Monday’s Lake Norman
Marine Commission meeting below.
The woman, Deondra Scott, lost her right arm because of the accident, but her condition reportedly is improving. The boat’s 30-year-old driver, Dennis Allen of Charlotte, had never operated a boat before and now faces charges of negligent operation of a motor boat, endangering life and limb and operating a motor boat with an insufficient number of life jackets, according to N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Master Officer Kenneth Osborne.
Ms. Scott and friends were participating in the annual “Lake Bash” at a cove off Gainswood Drive, on the Brawley School peninsula that Saturday afternoon. At the bash, hundreds of boaters tie their boats together and create a large “raft.” Ms. Scott was swimming when the boat backed over her, and the boat’s propellers cut her severely, according to Master Officer Osborne.
NEW SAFETY RULES?
Marine commissioners discussed the accident at the end of their monthly meeting Monday night at Charles Mack Citizens Center. Chairman Paul Carter did not mention the case in detail, but noted that there had been “quite a tragic accident on the lake within the last couple weeks that involved a rental boat.” He said another commissioner had contacted him, saying he wanted the board “to seriously consider” passing an ordinance “that would require boating licenses for anybody who rents a boat on this lake.”
That commissioner was John Marino, Catawba County’s representative on the marine commission. “I think this makes so much sense,” Mr. Marino said. “I know that it might be an inconvenience, but it’s something that probably could have avoided an accident on the 25th.”
He told DavidsonNews.net he thinks boat rental businesses would welcome the idea: “I think it’s something we need to study. … I honestly believe that many of the (businesses) that rent boats on this lake, they would be really happy to have that monkey off their backs, so they’d just say yes, we have to approve it.”
Mr. Marino compared it to renting a car. “When you rent a car you have to produce a driver’s license. When you rent a boat you should be able to produce some sort of identification that shows that you’ve had a boating safety course,” Mr. Marino said.
Mr. Carter said he has had friends who rented boats on Lake Norman, and “they’ve been handed a set of keys and off they go. … And unfortunately we now had one of those incidents that was waiting to happen, and unfortunately it’s happened.” He said he thinks licensing or certification “is something that this board seriously ought to look and consider.”
Mr. Marino noted that the state last year enacted a law requiring anyone under age 26 to complete a safety course before operating boats.
Other commissioners raised questions, but all ultimately agreed the board should study the idea.
“I’m not sure I”m going to be able to support something like this, no matter how good it sounds at first blush,” said Rich Permenter, the commissioner from Lincoln County. He noted that the driver of the boat in the June 25 accident was older than 26. “One of the other reasons is, who’s gonna enforce it? … I don’t know,” he said. He said he’s not sure anyone is checking to make sure that charter boat operators are certified right now.
Commissioner Ron Shoultz of Iredell County said, “I wholeheartedly concur with the requirement that rental boat operators should have boater safety education certification.” But he said the board needs to check with its attorney about whether it can pass a law that conflicts with the state law, which does not require certification.
Mr. Carter said the commission’s Charter Boat subcommittee should begin studying the licensing proposal. No deadline was set for bringing the idea back to the full commission.
RELATED LINKS
Lake Norman Marine Commission website
July 11, 2011, WCNC.com, “Condition of injured Lake Norman boater upgrade.”
July 4, 2011, Charlotte Observer, “Boater charged with negligence in Lake Norman accident: Victim in Lake Norman ‘rafting’ incident loses arm sliced by propeller”
June 27, 2011, DavidsonNews.net, Officers investigate boat accident; ‘no alcohol involved.’”
LISTEN TO THE DISCUSSION
Listen to the Lake Norman Marine Commission’s July 11 discussion of the accident and licensing proposal here. Click the play button to start.
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(MP3, 6 min. 50 sec)
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Speakers include 1) chair Paul Carter, and commissioners 2) John Marino (Catawba County), 3) Rich Permenter (Lincoln), 4) Ron Shoultz (Iredell), and 5) Daniel Stehle (Mecklenburg).
©2011 DavidsonNews.net
DavidsonNews.net spoke with the Wildlife Commission’s Master Officer Osborne Tuesday. He said he received about 15 written statements from witnesses, and one witness’ account – that of a woman who had a good view of the incident -was in keeping with other evidence and particularly contributed to the officer’s decision to charge the boater. According to the witness, he said, Ms. Scott jumped off the side of the boat and then swam around toward the platform at the back of the boat. When the witness saw this, she yelled to the driver of the boat to alert him, and he hit the throttle and threw the boat into reverse. “He obviously just panicked and made a terrible decision,” Officer Osborne said.