baoting accident question.

[steve23guy]

Re: baoting accident question.

Im nb ot sucking anything outa anyone, im getting re-emburssed... i have 12 people on a pontoon boat that saw the whole thing, plus the guy that got me outa the water.. he has 4 others, the passengers on his boat..... this case didnt even have to go as a mis trial..... so like i said, if my boat was insured by my agency...... sorry PWC.... they would have eather A denied my insurance claim and tell me to go after his insurance company, or, take care of it, and get the damages from HIs insurance company........ eather way his insurance company was gonna get hit.. i dont think im going after the guy personaly.. thats more of a moral issue for me.. im alive.. happy to be, im not the type thats going to go ans sue someone for anything......all i want is compesantion for medical bills/ a new jet ski to replace the one lost and something for the fact that i cant lift my arm over my head anymore and my knee swells up on days when bad weather is coming, and is always popping regardless.... Im going to have problems the rest of my life with my knee and arm..
I also lost my job due to this accident, the one i had just started.. i wasnt able to work for almost 2 months. i ws in a brace and wheel chair for the first 2 1/2 weeks i had to go 2 the hospital on 4 different occasions to have my knee drained of fluid, mainly filled with blood from the fracture as well... still swells up and bruises for no reason.

 

[tmh]

Re: baoting accident question.

This story loses credability by the post. 80 replies in we find out you had no insurance! (Illegal). Then we hear about all these witnesses on your side. Why was none of this mentioned earlier? If the other people all said he ran into YOU, then why were YOU given a citation and not the boat driver? Interesting.......

Just the fact that you chose to get on the PWC with no insurance shows you do not follow the simplest of rules/laws. I for one can no longer believe your side of the story.

 

[Firestar]

Re: baoting accident question.

To get on that jetski without any insurance tells me that you have a risk taking personality. If you have any dependents I hope you have life insurance.:/
All those witnesses at the scene and the officer still wrote you the ticket and not the boater? I wonder what those witnesses statements were that led the officer to his conclusion.:/
With all the medical issues you now have ( ie. an arm with limited range of motion, a knee that swells and needs to be drain periodicly), you still intend to replace the jetski????.....the medium responsible for all these problems, life changing events, that you have so far experienced , are still experiencing and medically will for the rest of your life?????:/
Very interesting profile evolving:/

 

[MrBigStuff]

Re: baoting accident question.

A PWC operator is no different than a motorcycle operator on the road. I also ride a motorcycle and you cannot rely on people around you. It's no different on the water. You can be right as rain and still be dead. It sounds to me like there was no lesson learned. I hear excuses about how you can't be expected to keep an eye behind you at all times. That's not necessary. Before you turn you should have your head on a swivel to make sure you're in no danger. Then and only then start executing your turn. Next time, you may not be so lucky.

 

[Firestar]

Re: baoting accident question.

A PWC operator is no different than a motorcycle operator on the road. I also ride a motorcycle and you cannot rely on people around you. It's no different on the water. You can be right as rain and still be dead. It sounds to me like there was no lesson learned. I hear excuses about how you can't be expected to keep an eye behind you at all times. That's not necessary. Before you turn you should have your head on a swivel to make sure you're in no danger. Then and only then start executing your turn. Next time, you may not be so lucky.

^^^^^X2^^^^^
I also ride a motorcycle . A jetski is the motorcycle of the waterways. You must have a hightened level of awareness. If you don't, your dead. If I operated my bike the way you operated your PWC my family would have been making funeral arrangements for me years ago.
You must make yourself aware of everything around you. Mirrors should be standard equipment on PWC's. Until they are, then, as you put it, the Linda Blair thing is a necessity. If you are an instructor, I hope you will incorperate the manuver, or a simuliar less sarcastic description of what should be a routine practice into your instructions. For you to describe what I call a common sense safety check of surrounding traffic, which should be done very often, a Linda Blair move speaks volumes on your outlook. This is not an attack on you personally. It is an observation. I am a retired Paramedic from the Chicago Fire Dept. In 25 years I have seen what a lack of caution will produce. It is a very hard lesson for all involved, family, friends, rescuers and above all the victim. Hindsight and trying to place blame doesn't change or justify what a couple of seconds produced. Error on the side of caution and such events will decrease in numbers.

 

[QC]

Re: baoting accident question.

Boy . . . As The Thread Turns

I have been supportive here, because I thought you were trying to fight a citation which based on your depiction of the incident I felt was incorrect (especially since the other guy didn't get one) and because I didn't think you should be blamed simply because you were one of "them".

Noooooow, we find out that you:

a) Weren't insured
b) Are looking for pain and suffering
c) Haven't been completely honest

My support is waning . . .

Considering the length of this thread and the interest that it has generated, and the anonymity of forums like this, why don't you just tell us the whole story? Including the statements made by all of those witnesses . . .

 

[danpemby]

Re: baoting accident question.

It really does sound like there is more to this than we were lead to believe. As for the "Pain and Suffering" that was probably an add-on by the Lawyer.

 

[danpemby]

Re: baoting accident question.

It really does sound like there is more to this than we were lead to believe. As for the "Pain and Suffering" that was probably an add-on by the Lawyer. So now it's time for "The Restof the story"

 

[bjcsc]

Re: baoting accident question.

Am I missing something here? What is the big deal with not having insurance? It is not illegal...at least not in SC. I am the only person I know with a boat that has insurance...most of the others think I'm crazy for paying for it...All you guys with payments may be required to have it, but I don't think those of us who outright own are. That said, I think it's insane to not have it, but not as incredulous as it is being made out to be. I would be willing to bet more than half the active posters on this board do not have insurance, but we'd have to get inside their glass houses to find out.

The other witnesses aren't really relevant to this issue, esp. since they support his position! We already know his side, what's the difference if other people tell us the same thing? The original post was about the rules. Few people are paying attention to the real issues, this has become "pile on the PWC guy". If this cat was in a boat, or fishing, this thread would have taken a completely different course. This guy told us what happened, seems to have enough witnesses to prove it in court, got run over at 55mph! and injured, but he was driving a PWC so screw him...we don't like PWC's...

And now he's at fault for wanting to recover his medical bills? Are you kidding me? Reel Poor are you seriously saying that if some jackass mowed you down in a similar fashion, resulting in the same level of injury, that you would just sell everything you own to pay the medical bills and chalk it up to lesson learned!! You can't be serious...I've read a lot of your posts since I've been around here and you are one of the most sensible people on these boards! I don't get it...I know good and well that none of you would pass anything, much less another boater, within 15' at 55mph....how does that issue get so discounted??

 

[tmh]

Re: baoting accident question.

Well, here in NY you have to pay for insurance for a boat or PWC. You DO NOT have to insure the physical vessel, which right now I don't, but you have to have liability coverage for just this sort of accident. Otherwise, there is no one to pay the medical bills when you run someone over (if you have no money for them to go after). I just assumed all states required this .... maybe not.

The excuse that "I only had the PWC for a week" doesn't cut it, at leasthere, insurance is needed before you can register the boat, so I'd guess that wasn't done either.

 

[Mark42]

Re: baoting accident question.

I just wonder how many times you have signaled before you passed another vessel. How many times you returned the proper sound signal when some one did give a signal.
.

1) Always

2) Always.

I even have a little "cheat sheet" that lists the bouys meaning by color and horn signals when I'm on the water.

The kids love to blow the horn on the boat, but when we are within hearing distance of another boat, I tell them "no horn - it means something to the other boats".

FYI - I actually find it fun knowing what all this nautical stuff means - horns, lights, bouys, charts, etc. Its all part of being a quality Skipper.

I think people who don't know the basics generally don't give a damn about others.

 

[stevieray]

Re: baoting accident question.

I was trying to stay out of this as long as I could......I think our PWC operator is 3 things & 2 of them are "glued" & "tattooed". When suing for medical bills or damages or pain & suffering, one must be completely & utterly blameless. The law calls it "Contributory Negligence". Anything and I mean ANYTHING the PWC operator did that IN ANY WAY contributed to the accident happening will make the court throw out any settlement. At least here in MD that's the way it is set up. Sad but true - some insurance co here has one hell of a lobbyist.

 

[steve23guy]

Re: baoting accident question.

Boy . . . As The Thread Turns

I have been supportive here, because I thought you were trying to fight a citation which based on your depiction of the incident I felt was incorrect (especially since the other guy didn't get one) and because I didn't think you should be blamed simply because you were one of "them".

Noooooow, we find out that you:

a) Weren't insured
b) Are looking for pain and suffering
c) Haven't been completely honest

My support is waning . . .

Considering the length of this thread and the interest that it has generated, and the anonymity of forums like this, why don't you just tell us the whole story? Including the statements made by all of those witnesses . . .

K listen...
you are not required to have insurance here on a PWC.so its not illigal.. 2nd, the cops never aksed anyone any questions exept the people on the boat, they did the sloppiest investigation ever.. they asked him what happend, wrote me the ticket, came to the hospital and told me i was getting a ticket for this accident when i woke up.. then the cop just left, never asked me once what happend.... they didnt even ask the guy who pulled me out of the water what happend.. they just took me of fhis boat when the rescue squad got there and placed me on there boat. then on the ambulance ashore...

If u want witness statements, all i can tell u is this.
the group of people on the pontoon boat (ive talked to half of em) say that the boat had just flew by them and when he passed me wasnt paying any attention to me what so ever and said it looked like he wasnt even lookin in the direction he was going., but i honestly dont believe the boat driver was that arrogent....
The witness that pulled me out of the water.... i was riding his wake behind him, and then came around to his left (my right) and was riding along side of him in the same direction, he notes that i did look at him, and behind me to a certian extent right before turning, and once i turned he said thats when he saw the boat flyin up behind me and KNEW exactly what was about to happen "it was like a movie in slow motion, when in reality it only took about a half second" his exact words. he also told me after i was hit i came up from under the water face up, he asked me are u okay, i said "im hurt" and went face down in the water.....the boat that hit me was a dead stick becuz he had ran over my PWC and i guess my jet ski did something to his "gearbox" he couldnt get his boat to reverse, and after the accident he put it in nutral, and it wouldnt leave it after that.. (since then been fixed he stated)
Again, it isnt against the law to not have insurance on the water here.. i had everything i was required, they say to have a whistle onboard, i had both, airhorn and whistle. fire extinguisher...
What this investigation was all about was.. not to sound rude, but im sure the cops were boaters.. second, im 24, this guy was 40, with 4 other 30-40 year olds on a boat.. who are they gonna side with?
Im sorry they said they were on the water since 11am that day and this accident happend at 4-430 u cant tell me they didnt go out drinking once, for gods sake... it was memorial day weekend. single guys and gals on a boat, one woman on the boat celebrating her 40th birthday, they were heading towards the party they had set up for her.. COME ONNN pleaaasseeee. the cop requested all sortsa tests on me, and all turned up NEGATIVE i didnt have one drink that day, i was with my parents bbq'n, nothing in my system at all.. even on the police report it says under my BAC level .000 his says BAC - BLANK (nothing)
Also 4 days after the accident i had gone to the sherrifs office to pick up the police report, and when i talked to the sherrif for the first time he stated that i was weaving inbetween multiple boats.. uhm there was a pontoon boat, the boat to my right, and the guy that flew up. i was going in a pefectly straight line....... its not hard to convince a cop of anything when there are 5 of u on a boat saying the excact same thing for the owners sake....

I AM NOT LOOKING FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING! i said its a moral issue and i dont want to do it... i want my medical bills payed and my jet ski replaced.. did u not understand when i said, i cant lift my arm over my head, nor lift more then 10-15 lbs really.. it sucks, if u could see my collat bone, the end where it meets my shoulder, is MOVED and RAISED.. its damage thats going to be there for the rest of my life... What am i supposed to do.. say ohhh well?

Edit: i aslo want to mention this. The officer at the sherrifs office also told me i made a LONG sweeping turn, then 2 days later when talking to him again he said i made a sharp turn.... then one cop said i made a long sweeping turn as well, then later changed it..... its a bunch of BS in my book, they wernt there for almost 10 min after the accident to ask anyone anything, plenty of time for the guy that ran into me to think of **** to say, and to get rid of any smell of anything....

 

[stevieray]

Re: baoting accident question.

Steve23 - check with your attorney & see if there is a contributory negligence clause in your state laws. If so, sorry, but you won't collect a cent. You admittedly were 30ft away from another craft - you shold NOT have been there by law - that is enough contributory negligence to have the whole thing thrown out. Your attorney has to look really close for that - it's usually hidden pretty deep in the layers of bureaucratic BS (to keep guys like you & me from knowing about it).

 

[QC]

Re: baoting accident question.

. . . and something for the fact that i cant lift my arm over my head anymore and my knee swells up on days when bad weather is coming, and is always popping regardless.... Im going to have problems the rest of my life with my knee and arm..

This is where I got pain and suffering. I guess I am still where I was in the beginning. Because the other guy was overtaking he is primarily responsible. I am not sure much has changed as far as I see it. What I am going to do is use this story as a little lesson for my oldest who turns 18 in two weeks . . .

Good luck with everything steve, especially your health.

 

[steve23guy]

Re: baoting accident question.

in the state of illinois contributory negligence is based on fault % if im more then 50% at fualt i dont get anything, but if its 50/50 then i get it.. again though, im not going after this guy , im just going after the insurance company to take care of my medical bills/jet ski.....
but i had the right of way....which makes me less then 50% at fault..

 

[steve23guy]

Re: baoting accident question.

. . . and something for the fact that i cant lift my arm over my head anymore and my knee swells up on days when bad weather is coming, and is always popping regardless.... Im going to have problems the rest of my life with my knee and arm..

This is where I got pain and suffering. I guess I am still where I was in the beginning. Because the other guy was overtaking he is primarily responsible. I am not sure much has changed as far as I see it. What I am going to do is use this story as a little lesson for my oldest who turns 18 in two weeks . . .

Good luck with everything steve, especially your health.

well im glad i could be used as a lesson to your kid. good to know me almost getting killed is gonna help maybe prevent something like this come close to happening again
i do hope that long essay i just wrote up there helped explain my situation better though. as to WHY this case has me so confused.....

 

[steve23guy]

Re: baoting accident question.

. . . and something for the fact that i cant lift my arm over my head anymore and my knee swells up on days when bad weather is coming, and is always popping regardless.... Im going to have problems the rest of my life with my knee and arm..

This is where I got pain and suffering. I guess I am still where I was in the beginning. Because the other guy was overtaking he is primarily responsible. I am not sure much has changed as far as I see it. What I am going to do is use this story as a little lesson for my oldest who turns 18 in two weeks . . .

Good luck with everything steve, especially your health.

well im glad i could be used as a lesson to your kid. good to know me almost getting killed is gonna help maybe prevent something like this come close to happening again
i do hope that long essay i just wrote up there helped explain my situation better though. as to WHY this case has me so confused.....

what i ment was the paion and suffering is a moral issue, i dont believe in doing that... but. im saying, im now gonna have problems when i get older with my knee for sure.. already do, its jsut gonan get worse... thats where my moral issue comes in.. do i? do i not.. i prolly wont, though eveyrone i know wants me 2, and the lawyer is going to push for it..... i just dont KNOW... i really dont want 2.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: baoting accident question.

Am I missing something here? What is the big deal with not having insurance?

Well in this case it's a 90,000 dollar medical bill plus pain and suffering.

.All you guys with payments may be required to have it, but I don't think those of us who outright own are. That said, I think it's insane to not have it, but not as incredulous as it is being made out to be.

I never once thought Steve to be incredulous. I do believe he is very irresponsible.

The original post was about the rules.

Which both operators disreguarded.

Few people are paying attention to the real issues, this has become "pile on the PWC guy". If this cat was in a boat, or fishing, this thread would have taken a completely different course. This guy told us what happened, seems to have enough witnesses to prove it in court, got run over at 55mph! and injured, but he was driving a PWC so screw him...we don't like PWC's...

At least not in my post. I even stated in one of my post I didn't care what he was driving. I see stupid operators, operating all types of watercraft.

Reel Poor are you seriously saying that if some jackass mowed you down in a similar fashion, resulting in the same level of injury, that you would just sell everything you own to pay the medical bills and chalk it up to lesson learned!!

Well bjcsc, in this particular case, if Steve was "mowed down" it's because, Steve jumped under the mower. This accident happened because both, catch that word,"BOTH", operators didn't adhear to to safe or legal operating procedures. If Steve had been "mowed down", by no fault of his own then I would say he is on the right road. But that is not case. Therefore I believe he has no
moral ground to stand on.

Now to answer your question directly. Yes I would. But, then again, you won't find me in this situation (without insurance). Insurance is a neccessity in life not an option, unfortunately. Some things in life are pleasure items and should come secondary to all neccessities.

Look, I'm really not against the guy personaly, but I am totaly against frivolous law suits.

 

[steve23guy]

Re: baoting accident question.

okay, i have insurance, but i never put this on my coverage... i have 2 others that are covered, the one i wrecked being the newest addition... now, listen, my insurance company would have gone after the boat drivers insurance or him regardless. so whats the difference if i do it, or the insurance company does.. there is none..... the insurance company does the same thing im doing, but in the background so u never see it...
u think they would just shell out almost 100,000 and not go after anyone HELLLL NO.......
so how is it frivolous if i do it, but okay if the insurance company does.. all im doing is taking out the middle man..