A news report from 3 years ago reported that an unmanned inflatable boat crashes into a sailboat In Mission Bay, CA. USA, injuring 1 on the sailboat. "Officials from the San Diego Lifeguard Service said they heard reports just after 6 p.m. of an unmanned vessel crashing. The boat's operators somehow lost control of it and ended up in the water, lifeguards say."
So what really happened, if you watch the video it is obvious the person operating the boat fell overboard while under way (as reported). The operator did not have the ignition safety lanyard connect to their life jacket/clothing. This means this when the operator fell overboard the lanyard was hanging from the motor safety ignition switch allowing the motor to continue running. If the operator had it connected to their clothing the motor would have shut off immediately and prevented the accident.
Sadly this is an all to common boating mishap. The safety shut off switch and lanyard are their for a reason but many boaters ignore it much to the determent of their and others safety.
Falling over and having the boat continue far beyond you is only one of many issues. The boat leaving you of course can be a problem, particularly if one does not have a life jacket on. Many times the boat motor will kick to one side of the boat make the boat go in a circle, call the spiral of death because the boat can come back and run you over. The other issue is the boat continuing on without you can result in the boat running into others.
So freaking put your darn lanyard on, weather you driving a small fishing boat, or a ski or wake boat, or outboard motor on a sailboat, etc. connect the lanyard clip to you!
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