Re: a sad nite time collison
This is strange but here in my area recently had two seperate incidents.<br /><br /><br />Several hurt in boat crash on Bomoseen<br /><br />August 18, 2005 <br /><br />By Alan J. Keays Herald Staff <br /> <br />A two-boat crash on Lake Bomoseen last weekend sent several people to the hospital including a local man who suffered propeller cuts to his neck.<br /><br />It was the second accident on the lake late Saturday night, coming around the same time that a boat crashed into Float Bridge.<br /><br />Christopher Howe, a Rutland County probate judge who lives on Lake Bomoseen, said in an interview Wednesday he was operating one of the boats in the two-vessel crash.<br /><br />Michael Bethel, 18, of Fair Haven, said Wednesday he was in the other boat involved in the collision near the middle of the lake. The name of the driver of that boat was not available.<br /><br />Bethel said he and three friends were on the shore of Lake Bomoseen sometime after 10 p.m. Saturday when a boat approached them and the driver asked if they wanted to go for a ride. Bethel said he and his friends agreed, and they went out on the lake.<br /><br />He said at one point one of his friends, a 15-year-old boy, was steering, but the boat's owner was controlling the speed.<br /><br />"We were doing between 20 and 30 miles per hour," he said.<br /><br />Bethel said his girlfriend, who was with him, asked the boat owner for a life jacket and was given one.<br /><br />"We were watching the sky and she was like, 'Mike, isn't it a beautiful night out tonight?' And then we kissed and then moments after that we were slammed,'" he said. "The next thing I remember I was in the water and I was swimming up to the surface."<br /><br />Bethel added that his 15-year-old friend went over the glass windshield in the front of the boat and then under the vessel.<br /><br />"I guess at that time he saw the propeller coming for him and I guess I grabbed him out of the way and we swam up together," Bethel said.<br /><br />Bethel added that he, himself, was cut by the propeller and had to have 15 stitches in his neck. He and his three friends were taken to Rutland Regional Medical Center and later released.<br /><br />Bethel said the man who invited them into his boat was not taken to the hospital. He added that he did not know the man's name.<br /><br />Bethel said the lights were on in the boat he was riding in, but the other boat operator, Howe, did not appear to have his lights turned on when the late-night crash took place.<br /><br />Howe said Wednesday that wasn't the case, his boat lights were on.<br /><br />Howe said his two daughters, his wife, his brother-in-law and sister-in-law were aboard his 21-foot Malibu boat at the time of the collision. He said he had just picked up his daughters at the Lake House Pub, where they work.<br /><br />"I was the designated driver for the evening," Howe said, adding that capacity for his boat is 10 people.<br /><br />He estimated he was traveling 18-20 mph at the time of the collision.<br /><br />"A boat appeared out of my blind side, which would be to the port side of the boat, across my bow, and there was a collision," Howe said, adding that he didn't see the vessel.<br /><br />"He saw my red light, or if he had looked, he would have seen the red light, which means it's a no-go zone for him," Howe said.<br /><br />After the collision, Howe said he immediately "powered down" his boat and so did the other boat. Everyone offered assistance to those who injured.<br /><br />"We took immediate steps to account for each of the passengers on both boats," he said.<br /><br />Another passing boat also arrived at the scene to answer calls of help.<br /><br />"They rendered assistance and took the passengers from the other boat," Howe said.<br /><br />Two of his family members were taken to the hospital, he said, and they were treated and released.<br /><br />Howe said his boat sustained some "cosmetic damage" as well as damage to the keel, but he was able to drive it back to shore. The other boat had to be towed to shore, he said.<br /><br />Howe said he was not aware if any charges were filed in the crash.<br /><br />"As far as I know, it's still under investigation," he said.<br /><br />While Castleton Police investigate that collision, Vermont State Police are investigating another accident involving a single boat that took place around the same time.<br /><br />That crash, in which a boat struck the Float Bridge around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, sent three people to the hospital. They were treated and released.
