Accidents may reach five year low at SML

Lynchburg News and Advance
Published: September 7, 2008

Boat crashes and other incidents on Smith Mountain Lake were on an almost steady rise since 2003, claiming nine lives — until now.

With the summer boating season officially over since Labor Day, there have been 13 incidents on the lake so far this year. That’s compared to 33 crashes for all of 2007. If the trend holds throughout the fall, conservation police officers think this year will mark the lowest number of crashes on the lake since 2003.

Three people have died on the water this year — one in a boating incident and two in drownings. The boating incident occurred after a fishing boat took on water around 2 a.m. on Aug. 18, said Lt. Tony Fisher, of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Three men were in the boat and tried to swim to shore. One did not make it; Fisher said he was not wearing a lifejacket.

In 2007, two people died in a boating-related incident.

Fisher said the decline in boating incidents this year likely is the result of several factors.

One reason is that the number of boats on the water this year is down, likely a result of high gas prices, he said. The July 4 fireworks display — arguably the lake’s busiest day of the year — attracted visibly fewer boaters than in previous years.

“It had an impact on the number of users not only locally, but vacation travelers from other localities,” he said. “There is no mechanism to measure that.”

Enforcement efforts and a push on boater education also are likely working to reduce the number of boating incidents, Fisher said.

Safety on the lake took center stage after the deaths of Judith and Lawrence Lewis in 2005, when a 38-foot speed boat traveling more than 60 mph crashed into the back of their boat, killing them instantly.

The man driving the other boat, Mark de Tournillon, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and operating under the influence charges the following year; he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

In 2007, the General Assembly passed a bill in response to the crash that requires all Virginia boaters to take a boating education course. That law, which went into effect on July 1, will be phased in over the next eight years.

Over the past five years, there have been some 700 boating accidents across Virginia and almost 100 deaths. The state hit its highest rate of fatalities in 10 years in 2006, when 23 people died.

Fisher said the crashes directly correspond to the numbers of boaters out on the water. An estimated 15,000 boats play on Smith Mountain Lake each year. The number of boats registered in Virginia has been increasing by a few thousand each year.

In 2007, there were 253,962 registered watercrafts, up from 250,672 in 2006, according to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Fisher said that has contributed to the steady rise in boating crashes.

Enforcement efforts and a continued push on boater education have helped keep safety on the minds of those using the lake, Fisher said.

Three years ago, the markings on conservation police officers’ boats became more visible for boaters, as a reminder that law enforcement is on the lake, Fisher said.

There also have been several boating safety checkpoints scattered throughout the lake.

“We are providing enhanced enforcement during peak usage times,” Fisher said. “When we are stopping folks, we talked about boating education.”

Even though the boating season is over, Fisher said those who continue to use the lake need to keep safety in mind.

“That’s the most intense use of the lake, but the lake gets used all year long,” he said. “A lot of local people used the lake now because the vacationers are gone.”

Fisher said a lack of navigation lights is a huge problem with boaters at night. Without these lights functioning, he said others can’t see a boat on the water.

“It is incredibly unsafe,” he said. “When people can’t see you, the potential for disaster is extremely high.”