14 replies to this topic

[riverpirate]

Garden Grove woman dead after boating crash
The collision happened along the Colorado River on Friday.

A Garden Grove woman died after she was involved in a boating crash along the Colorado River in Needles, authorities said today.

Sandra Door, 29, was operating a personal watercraft on the river near the Interstate 40 Bridge around 4:15 p.m., when she suddenly turned into the path of a Mastercraft vessel, a San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department spokesman said.

The operator of the Mastercraft couldn't avoid the collision, and Door and her passenger were thrown into the water, authorities said.

Door's passenger and the Mastercraft operator were not hurt.

[fluentdesigns]

Wow another sad story... people need to be more careful.. I always have seadoo people driving in front of me without looking

[dmolina15]

Yeah, a couple months back I was coming up river doing about 70 and I had two knuckleheads on a wave runner decide to do a u-turn in front of me and fall off. I had time to react luckily but it could have been bad.

[Moisture Missile]

These sea doo's really make me nervous I cant tell you how many close calls i see and usually the sea doo operator just rides off not even realizing they just almost lost their life. I am not a fan of rules and regulations but some type of licensing or at least a safety training class should be mandatory for all sea doo operators!

[dmolina15]

Well when you have under age kids on seedoos that can do 75mph on them that isn't good either. But they don't pay attention to what's going on around them, and they end up like this poor girl that is dead now. And now the driver of that boat has to live with that even though it wasn't his fault.

So yes, I think that they should be bound by the same rules as driving a car. Have a liscense or they can't drive. They doesn't mean everyone that has a liscense can drive, but that's whole other issue.

I don't know if I am making any sense here...

Edited by dmolina15, 30 September 2009 - 09:08 AM.

[RiverBum215]

sad to hear but a common problem with PWC riders.

almost anyone can rent a PWC and then they go out and ride without really knowing what there doing.

The u turn issue is very common. I would bet that almost anybody with a boat was had a PWC turn in front of them at one time or another.

[Nolsky]

Yes I agree, I have had many close calls with PWC making quick turns, U turns cutting me off, Some very scarry close calls, When I'm on the river I always drive my boat with my air horn in hand, cant tell u how many times I've used it, & the dam nuckleheads have no clue why I blow it sometimes, Ive had them flip me off acouple of times. They have no clue the danger there in, it's unbelievable.

[ltr450rider]

My theory is most new people on the water, no matter what type of vessel they are operating, have the idea that because they are in "open" water, they can and will do whatever they please.

Such as:
Drive on the wrong side of the river

Not look behind before making a turn

Not constantly check behind while moving forward to check for other watercraft (like a rearview mirror)

Not scan the water at least a mile ahead and to each side to check for oncoming vessel's

Operating watercraft in a "playfull" manner in high traffic area's, i.e. the river or just outside of bouy lines.

I can go on forever about this. I started a thread before about licensing anyone who operates a watercraft. Now I have the idea that PWC's should require further instruction and licensing, like a motorcyle on the road.

[riverpirate]

EVERYTHING you mentioned really stinx...

Quote

drive on the wrong side of the river

i funkin hate this!!!

Edited by riverpirate, 30 September 2009 - 05:59 PM.

[TheRiver]

yeah i have seen some crazy stuff out on the water.

probably the most dangerous thing you can do on a PWC is turn without looking over your sholder.

[fluentdesigns]

TheRiver said:

yeah i have seen some crazy stuff out on the water.

probably the most dangerous thing you can do on a PWC is turn without looking over your sholder.

That's just common sense it's like driving a rhino in Glamis. Always look when u change lines.

[Cat-R-iffic]

Just out of curiosity. How many board members have taken a Boater Safetry Course or Tre's Performance Boat Course? It is easy to sit back and say that other people need to do this or do that but in reality, everyone on the water should take some type of boating safety course, not just for themselves but what about for their friends and their boating family members?

This poor lady, her passenger, and the boat operator have experienced something that brings chills to me. I hope and pray that my family and my friends never have to experience a loss of life from boating.

This summer I personally seen a serious boating accident, had a friend lose a limb, and read too many articles about boating accidents or close calls. This is not just a PWC issue. We all need to be safer on the water. Our sport and "escape from reality" time is getting more popular and our boats are getting faster. Lets not sit back and point our finger that doesn't resolve the issues.

My dad always told me; "A smart person doesn't only learn from their mistakes but from someone elses as well"


With that being said, my condolences go out to the family and friends of the victim. God speed to you.

[Moisture Missile]

Cat-R-iffic said:

Just out of curiosity. How many board members have taken a Boater Safetry Course or Tre's Performance Boat Course? It is easy to sit back and say that other people need to do this or do that but in reality, everyone on the water should take some type of boating safety course, not just for themselves but what about for their friends and their boating family members?

This poor lady, her passenger, and the boat operator have experienced something that brings chills to me. I hope and pray that my family and my friends never have to experience a loss of life from boating.

This summer I personally seen a serious boating accident, had a friend lose a limb, and read too many articles about boating accidents or close calls. This is not just a PWC issue. We all need to be safer on the water. Our sport and "escape from reality" time is getting more popular and our boats are getting faster. Lets not sit back and point our finger that doesn't resolve the issues.

My dad always told me; "A smart person doesn't only learn from their mistakes but from someone elses as well"


With that being said, my condolences go out to the family and friends of the victim. God speed to you.

Very well put education is something we all could benefit from. I wonder how many boaters really know what side is port, and what side is starboard. They should include some type of classes with the purchase of a new boat or pwc or when you go to register it a certificate of completion of a safety course. It seems to me though, and correct me if I am wrong, The people who spend half their day on boating related boards seem to be very well versed in the rules of the waterways, its the ones who have not had the experience on the water and hop on a friends sea-doo and tear up the lake. Just take a trip up to the dam in laughlin that place is full of them. Even though accidents happen to the best boaters out there we should take a proactive roll and educate our selves and others around us on the safe way to operate on the water before THE MAN makes a whole book full of laws for us!:D:D

[prop check]

this kind of tragedy sucks...my prayers go out to all those involved. I must say that i frequent that area of the river and it is a huge problem with collisions there not just because of the PWC operators but all of us (me included) the problem is the beaches of needles marina run right up to the concrete bridge supports for highway 95. This makes it the equivalent of a blind intersection due to the length of the bridge supports and people pulling away from the beach, so even if you remove ignorance,recklessness,alcohol and all other factors it is still a very,very dangerous part of the river. please lets all learn from this a remember just because we can do 100 mph we don't always have to.

[josefhate]

At the start of this season i saw a pwc t bone another pwc by buckskin. One kid practically lost his leg. U think the river is infested with lice ,try lake perris. Ive never seen so many inexperienced riders in my life.