Kevin O’Leary wife driving boat in fatal accident

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Group9

One report I read said that she was driving at "!7 mph" which was determined to be excessive speed.



I think it's crazy to pilot a boat at night at high speed, but I'm not sure I think 17 mph is high speed.



All of these news articles seem to deliberately only bother to gather half the information you need to figure out what happened.

You never know, it could be that due to the fact there was a accident, it made it excessive speed.
I go around an icy curve in my car and slide into a ditch because of the ice. I was under the speed limit.
What are my odds of getting a ticket for excessive speed for conditions? You ended up in a ditch, you must have done something wrong.
Then I’m not so sure Colregs really have a lot to do with small boats on inland waterways, they should not arguing that, but it seems the average water cop is more educated about land vehicle traffic laws and tends to lean toward that.
I’ve not talked to many FWC types, but the few that I have, have never heard of Colregs, I know cause I’ve brought it up once or twice, but I’ve only had discussions with a very few of them. They also have never heard of AIS either.
I know this wasn’t Fl, and maybe Canadian water cops are different.

Then while I am no lawyer I believe that sometime tickets are issued so that there is a reason for an investigation.
No ticket, what’s the cause for the investigation?

Don’t shoot the messenger, just speculation.

[Shrew]

It doesn't take a lot of speed to kill someone. What is takes is significant deceleration (i.e. STOP). Decades ago, my wife and I were driving without seatbelts (It was the 'style' in those days). We were doing maybe 20mph when I hit black ice and drive off the road and hit a stone wall. We went from 20mph - 0 mph in less than 1 second.

That was enough to crack the windshield and my wife's head to rip the rear mirror off in the impact. All it takes is someones neck colliding with a dashboard, bulkhead, wheel or windshield.

[malbert73]

I personally feel that nighttime boat operation generally requires much lower speed that most think. Drives me nuts when I hear powerboats running down our river at high speed at night because an unlit object will have too quick of a closing speed.
I don’t know what the situation here was but what if the boat without lights lost power and was disabled and was run down by a lit boat that was going too fast to see unlit objects? How would we feel then? 17-19mph is very fast in the dark....

[ontherocks83]

Originally Posted by malbert73

I personally feel that nighttime boat operation generally requires much lower speed that most think. Drives me nuts when I hear powerboats running down our river at high speed at night because an unlit object will have too quick of a closing speed.
I don’t know what the situation here was but what if the boat without lights lost power and was disabled and was run down by a lit boat that was going too fast to see unlit objects? How would we feel then? 17-19mph is very fast in the dark....

17 mph is barely on plane for most speedboats. I think on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire the night time speed limit is either 20 or 25 mph.

[Lodesman]

Rule 6 anyone?

[a64pilot]

17 MPH is a very specific speed, I wonder how that was determined?

[deblen]

It is normal for Canadian police agencies to be very tight lipped regarding "incidents". This helps avoid useless speculation and unfair tainting of reputations,etc. The facts will come out in due time.



I would like to throw in my 2cts regarding COLREGS on a dark & moonless night regardless of where you operate.


Rule 6a demands that you set your speed to fit current visibility & conditions.


Rule 19a,b,c demands that ALL vessels in no visibility adjust their speed accordingly,be prepared to stop,etc., and therefore ALL vessels are "Give Way" in lo/no visibility conditions. (ie:there are no "Stand On" vessels)


The rule of thumb for black night driving on an unlit road is to not "outspeed your headlights". In other words,you should lower your speed to where you can safely stop the vehicle in less than the distance your headlights reach.


Futhermore, COLREGS state that your eyes & ears are the only sensors that count when an incident occurs-so leave electronic aids out of the discussion.


So,how fast is safe on a dark,black,moonless night? / Len

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by ontherocks83

17 mph is barely on plane for most speedboats. I think on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire the night time speed limit is either 20 or 25 mph.

That may be. Doesn’t make it safe if there’s no visibility (eg no moon)

[Group9]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

17 MPH is a very specific speed, I wonder how that was determined?

I don’t know. I wondered about that, too. It was a weird article (as more and more news reports seem to be these days, LOL).

After reading them, you have more questions than answers!

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by deblen

It is normal for Canadian police agencies to be very tight lipped regarding "incidents". This helps avoid useless speculation and unfair tainting of reputations,etc. The facts will come out in due time. ...

Exactly. Don’t listen to the media speculation. News will come out when there is new to report. Until then, it’s just opinion babblers making noise.

All we can say is that the police believe there is enough evidence to lay both charges. The judicial system will decide if this is so.

[GordMay]

Kevin & Linda O'Leary Update ➥ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...rash-1.5350154


Linda O’Leary has been charged under the Canada Shipping Act with careless operation of a vessel, which is not a criminal charge. The maximum penalty is a $10,000 fine.
➥ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...nded-1.5343293

[GordMay]

Justice system's handling of O'Leary boat crash case a 'slap in the face' for victims' families.
Kevin O’Leary files claim for more than $3M in fatal boat crash in 2019.
Following the crash, Linda O'Leary was charged with careless operation of a vessel under the Canada Shipping Act. That case is still before the courts, and the Public Prosecution Service, which prosecutes federal offences, has declined comment.
More ➥ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/siste...suit-1.5719975

[SeanPatrick]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

17 MPH is a very specific speed, I wonder how that was determined?

I can almost guarantee that whoever wrote the story was told "about 15 knots". Not knowing how fast that is and thinking their readers wouldn't either, they converted it to mph.


Oh, hey ... that's an old post.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by SeanPatrick

I can almost guarantee that whoever wrote the story was told "about 15 knots". Not knowing how fast that is and thinking their readers wouldn't either, they converted it to mph.


Oh, hey ... that's an old post.

That's okay, you're probably right.

[Glory Days]

As an addendum.............the captain of the boat that was hit has been charged with negligence. Failing to show nav lights.
Apparently they were star gazing !
R.