Three salmon fishers had to leap out of their small craft to avoid being rammed by a speedboat that nearly killed them. The speedboat driver, Marlin Lee Larsen (75), said he couldn’t see the little boat because he was sitting down and the front of his boat was blocking his view. One of the fisherman is suing the speedboat driver for over $350,000.
From SF Gate:
Larsen’s son-in-law, who also was on the boat, told investigators that he had warned his father-in-law to pay attention, that he sometimes sees his father-in-law using his cell phone while driving the boat and that his father-in-law had been off-and-on his cell phone the morning of the crash, according to the sheriff’s report.
Although Oregon law heavily restricts cell phone use while driving, there are no such specific laws governing boating. But it is against the law to operate a boat without due care.
Life imitates art:
https://youtu.be/oBcFfvmm_uI?t=1m8s