On May 27, 2012, operator was operating Texas vessel 7030-BM on the Red River in Caddo Parish.  Operator's vessel was a 16 foot aluminum jon boat with a 60 HP Yamaha hand tiller motor.  Operator was traveling north on the river, approaching the Hwy. 2 boat launch, when he hit a sandbar which caused his vessel to come to a sudden stop.  The sudden stop caused Operator's passenger to be thrown out of the vessel onto the sandbar.  Operator was thrown from the stern of the vessel into the front deck of the boat.  Passenger stated he was traveling at approximately 23 mph at the time of the incident.  Passenger was treated at a local hospital for minor scrapes and bruises and released.  Operator was treated at LSU Hospital for a lacerated liver and a punctured kidney.  Operator was released from the hospital after a couple of days, and is expected to make a full recovery.  Alcohol was not suspected in this incident, but a blood sample was taken from Operator and sent to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab for analysis.  The crime lab detected no ethyl alcohol in his blood.  (See LSP Crime Lab report.)  Operator's vessel was equipped with four Type 3 PFD's, but they were not worn at the time of the incident.  Operator was wearing his kill switch at the time of the incident.  There was no damage to Operator's vessel.  The contributing factors in this incident were that Operator was not paying attention to the conditions of the river and was traveling too fast for the given conditinos. Operator also failed to have a proper lookout.
Plain Dealing                 