Boating in Iowa on Memorial Day weekend was deadly with multiple fatalities

Iowan's are you listening and thinking?

It's boating season again and several legal bloggers joined together to stress safety in boating. I had hoped not to read about a tragic boating accident in Iowa. That was yesterday; today the headline reads 10-year-old boy dies in boating accident. What's reported is a boat accident caused by the outboard motor flipping back into the boat after the shaft struck something under water. Unfortunately the weight of the 175-horsepower outboard's weight landed on a 10-year-old passenger who was killed.

The DNR is investigating. See also the Des Moines Register's story, 10-year-old killed after motor flips onto boat on Storm Lake.

And then on Rathburn Lake there is another accident involving a 23-year-old man who dove underwater to recover a floatation device and never came back up. An autopsy will be conducted and I'm guessing they are looking to determine the blood alcohol level of the young man. Illinois man's body found in Rathbun Lake

I would have hoped that was the end of the grief but it isn't. Over this Memorial Day Holiday four people died in either boating or swimming accidents. See the story Memorial Day weekend sees at least four deaths in Iowa waters.

On Coralville Reservoir a 12-year-old died. Reportedly she was struck by a boat. She'd been tubing and being towed behind a boat. Person of interest identified in connection with boating death at Coralville Lake

Then there is the 30-year-old Carroll man who drowned while swimming. Carroll swimmer drowns on way to shore

And a Nebraska man who went missing after falling overboard on the Mississippi River near Port Neal. Searchers seek man who fell into river near Salix

Two Waterloo, Iowa teens (15 years-old) were reported injured after their "watercraft" exploded. They were launching it on the Mississippi River. Blast throws 2 Waterloo teens into Mississippi River

Then a barge ran into a family boat on the Mississippi river and it's reported all were uninjured. Apparently the motor stalled requiring the father, mother and two very young children to jump overboard. The children were 3 and 1. All were wearing floatation devices.

And on Lake Delhi in Delaware County a 26-year-old boat operator was arrested for intox when the boat he was driving struck a hoist. 

And on the Cedar River north of Vinton the DNR ticketed a boater with four passengers after his boat sunk and it was determined he did not have the required number of life jackets.

I have a feeling this is going to be a really bad season for boating injuries and deaths in Iowa. Like I stated earlier, people... "Let's be careful out there."

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For additional reading about boating safety read these other posts:

Have a Safe Boating Weekend, by Brooks Schuelke, Austin, Texas.

Think Safety With National Boating Week, Mike Bryant, St. Cloud, Minnesota.

And let's not forget Beth Janicek's Boating and Boozing. Beth hails from Texas.

Boating in Iowa, Let's be careful out there!, Lombardi from Iowa.

Safety First When Boating This Summer, Devon Glass from Michigan

Memorial Day weekend boating fatalities, Beth Janicek discusses the four deaths in Texas on Memorial Day Weekend.

Boating Basics: Accidents Happen - Now What?, June 21, 2010, Nick Avgerinos