Missing Roseville Boater Lost in Tomales Bay
A Roseville man went missing on Monday, October 26, 2015 in Tomales Bay when the boat in which he was fishing capsized. This area of Tomales Bay is sometimes prone to unexpected surges of rough and choppy waters.
Boating accidents are numerically much less common than car crashes, but the “typical” boating accident can result in much more significant injuries than the “typical” car crash. Obviously, most people involved in car crashes will be using seat belts and/or shoulder harness, and in most cars will have the benefit of air bags and other modern safety equipment. In a boating accident, about the most that can be hoped for in terms of safety equipment is that victims will be wearing life jackets that may save them from drowning if they’re ejected from the boat.
A recent example was a boating accident on the Sacramento River near Red Bluff that resulted in injuries to seven people, three of whom had to be taken to a hospital, one of those with significant head injuries who was transported first by ambulance and then by helicopter to a trauma center. Other injuries included a broken arm and hip for the man who was driving the boat. The accident apparently happened when the boat crossed the large wake of another boat, causing the driver to lose control and crash into a bridge piling where Interstate-5 crosses the river.
On Sunday, June 28, 2015, a young boy was killed in a boating accident with a jet ski or personal watercraft on Bass Lake. The facts of the accident are not entirely clear. ABC reported that a family had been inner-tubing on Bass Lake when two teens fell into the water. KCRA reported that the teens had been swimming behind their family’s pontoon boat when the accident occurred. The family had put out proper flagging to warn others that there were people in the water. One boy was killed and another teen was taken by life-flight to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, where she was listed in critical condition with serious head injuries.
Emergency responders were quick to attempt to render aid, but the 13 yr old boy died at the scene. The girl was transported by airlift to with serious head injuries.
Water sports are becoming more popular around the world. People are spending more time racing boats, water skiing, scuba diving and skin diving. Injuries because of boat propellers are also becoming more frequent. One study looked at the ten year period from 1963-1973 and studied nine cases of injury by boat propeller. Some resulted in an amputation as a result of the propeller itself. Others needed surgical amputation due to mangled extremities.
Injuries on boats are not simply a national occurrence. The below examples are listed not for shock value but to illustrate the need to use caution when on or near boats. These were recent news items from 2012 and 2013 illustrating the mechanism of injury due to water sports and/or while on a watercraft.
Sacramento Injury Attorneys Blog