9 Year Old Child Loses Mother in Boat Accident
The Houston Chronicle reported a fatal boat accident that took place at Clear Creek Nature Park earlier this week. One person was killed and two others were hospitalized. Details suggest that the boat, being driven by James Doug Pitcock Jr., lost control while trying to execute a turn.
As of now the cause of the accident is still under investigation, and there is no reason to assume that driver inattentiveness or impairment were partially to blame. It does, however, bring to light the fact that while distracted driving of automobiles has become a nation wide safety issue, distracted or impaired driving of other vehicles or boats is just as dangerous.
The US Coast Guard reported 2,815 boating accidents in 2009. The number one cause of these accidents was driver inattention. Also among the list of causes were: operator inexperience, excessive speed, alcohol impairment, and following the“rules of the road”. These are the same factors that cause motor vehicle accidents every single day.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is working hard to end distracted driving on our nation’s roadways. However, there is very little focus being devoted to distracted driving of other vehicles or boats.
Distracted driving comes in many forms and the things that distract us while driving an automobile can also distract us while operating a boat or other type of vehicle. These distractions can include talking on a cell phone, texting, adjusting the GPS, eating, drinking, applying makeup, and even smoking can take a drivers eyes off the road, or water, for even a second. This is all the time it takes for a serious accident to occur.
We don’t know if distraction played a role in the afore mentioned boating accident. But we do know that a young boy has lost his mother in what was most likely an avoidable tragedy and unfortunately it sometimes takes a lost life like this to create greater awareness of the huge responsibility we take when we get behind the wheel of any type of vehicle.
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