Early on Friday, July 6, 2012, Melissa Cummings of Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) told lakelanier.com that there were only two Boating Under the Influence (BUI) incidents on Lake Lanier on the 4th of July. There were no fatalities statewide. On other lakes, there was one additional BUI and a few minor boating incidents.
Around 5 PM, Melissa Cummings reported a serious accident on Lake Lanier. A 38-year-old male riding a personal watercraft struck an inner-tube being pulled by a pontoon boat not far from Van Pugh Park, injuring two young children.
An 11-year-old boy was airlifted to Egelston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta. A young girl, believed to be 15 years old, was taken by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.
Update: Melissa Cummings reports the driver of the personal watercraft is a friend of the family and knows both victims. Early indications are that alcohol was not a factor in the collision.
Laws governing personal watercraft state, in part:
- A PWC, operating at more than idle speed, cannot run around, ride or jump the wake of, or be within 100 feet of another moving boat or PWC unless it is overtaking the other boat in compliance with the rules for encountering other boats. When a PWC is overtaking another boat, it must not change course in order to ride or jump the wake of the boat being overtaken.
Click Here for Laws Governing Personal Watercraft
lakelanier.com will report more details as they become available.
