RedactedNarrative: RECONSTRUCTION OF BOAT COLLISION WITH DOCK
  
  LAKE AND FOREST CLUB LAKE
  
  MAY 13, 2016
  
  BOAT INVOLVED:  2005 HONDA AQUATRAX R-12X PWC
  
  CASE NUMBER:  xxxxxxxx
  
  INDIANA CONSERVATION OFFICER (ICO) #1
  
  THIS RECONSTRUCTION IS OF A SINGLE BOAT COLLISION WITH A DOCK THAT OCCURRED DURING THE EVENING OF FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016 ON THE LAKE AND FOREST CLUB LAKE.  THIS IS A PRIVATE LAKE LOCATED IN BROWNSTOWN, INDIANA.  A 10 FOOT HONDA AQUATRAX R-12X PERSONAL WATERCRAFT (PWC) COLLIDED WITH A DOCK ON THE SOUTH SHORELINE CAUSING PERSONAL INJURY TO TWO SUBJECTS AND PROPERTY DAMAGE TO THE PWC AND DOCK.  THERE WERE TWO OCCUPANTS ON THE PWC, BOTH OF WHICH WERE EJECTED.  THE MALE OPERATOR OF THE PWC SUSTAINED A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY ALONG WITH FACIAL FRACTURES, A BROKEN HIP AND ARM, AS WELL AS FRACTURED VERTEBRAE.  THE FEMALE PASSENGER SUSTAINED A FRACTURED PELVIS AND SEVERE LACERATIONS.  
  
  THE COLLISION OCCURRED AT APPROXIMATELY 20:00 HOURS.  ICO #2 AND I WERE CONTACTED SHORTLY AFTER THE COLLISION BY ICO #3 AND ASKED TO COME TO THE SCENE.  BOTH ICO #2 AND I ARE BASIC BOAT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATORS FOR OUR DEPARTMENT.  ICO #2 ARRIVED ON SCENE AT APPROXIMATELY 22:14 HOURS AND I ARRIVED AT 22:36 HOURS.  BOTH OCCUPANTS OF THE PWC HAD ALREADY BEEN TRANSPORTED TO HOSPITALS AND WITNESS STATEMENTS HAD BEEN TAKEN BY ICO #4 AND ICO #5.  ICO #4 HAD SECURED THE SCENE UNTIL ICO #2  AND I ARRIVED.  
  
  WE OBSERVED THE PWC, A 2005 HONDA AQUATRAX R-12, SITTING UPRIGHT AND HAD BEEN PULLED ONTO SHORE.  THE MAJORITY OF THE PWC WAS OUT OF THE WATER.  THERE WAS VISIBLE DAMAGE TO THE STARBOARD SIDE OF THE PWC AND TO THE HULL.  WE DETERMINED THAT DUE TO THE MAJORITY OF THE VESSEL BEING OUT OF THE WATER AND THE LACK OF PRESENT RESOURCES, WE COULD TAKE APPROPRIATE PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEASUREMENTS OF THE VESSEL WHERE IT CURRENTLY SAT.  
  
  WE ALSO OBSERVED THE DOCK THAT THE PWC COLLIDED WITH.  MEASUREMENTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS WERE TAKEN OF THE DOCK.
  
  TO ASSESS THE DAMAGE, THE VESSEL WAS SPLIT INTO FOUR QUADRANTS, WITH EACH PIECE OF DAMAGE ASSIGNED A QUADRANT LETTER AND NUMBER.  AFTER EACH PIECE OF DAMAGE WAS IDENTIFIED, NUMBERED, AND MARKED, IT WAS THEN PHOTOGRAPHED.  THE DAMAGE WAS THEN MEASURED USING THE BASE LINE OFFSET MEASURING TECHNIQUE TAUGHT BY THE NATIONAL BOATING ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AND ANALYSIS COURSE.  THIS MEASURING TECHNIQUE UTILIZES THREE REFERENCE POINTS – XRP, YRL, AND ZRP, IN ORDER TO GET ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS.  SKETCH 1 IDENTIFIES HOW THESE MEASUREMENTS ARE TAKEN.  DOCUMENT 1 PROVIDES A LIST OF MEASUREMENTS OF THE DAMAGE OBSERVED ON THE PWC.  THE DAMAGE WAS THEN SKETCHED (SKETCHES 2-4).  THEY ARE DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:
  
  SKETCH 2 – TOP VIEW OF PWC
  
  SKETCH 3 – BOTTOM VIEW OF PWC
  
  SKETCH 4 – STARBOARD VIEW OF PWC
  
  THE DOCK WAS ALSO SKETCHED (SKETCH 5).
  
  DISCUSSION OF DAMAGE:
  
  ALL RELEVANT DAMAGE TO THE VESSEL WAS FOUND AT THE STEERING AREA AND STARBOARD SIDE.  THE MAJORITY OF DAMAGE WAS LOCATED ON THE HULL.  
  
  STEERING AREA:  THERE WAS A HOLE IN THE BLACK PLASTIC NEXT TO THE SPEEDOMETER ON THE STARBOARD SIDE.  THERE WAS A SMALL STORAGE COMPARTMENT THAT IS BETWEEN THE HANDLE BARS AND FRONT OF THE SEAT.  THE LID HAD BEEN BROKEN OFF OF THE COMPARTMENT.  WE WERE UNABLE TO LOCATE THE BLACK PLASTIC LID.
  
  STARBOARD RUB RAIL:  ON THE STARBOARD SIDE, TOWARDS THE STERN-SIDE OF THE HALFWAY POINT, THERE WAS COMPRESSION DAMAGE THAT HAD CAUSED CHIPPING AND SPIDER-WEBBING IN THE FIBERGLASS GEL COAT.  
  
  STARBOARD HULL:  THE MAJORITY OF THE DAMAGE WAS LOCATED HERE.  THERE WERE SEVERAL GOUGES/SCRATCHES IN THE GEL COAT ALONG THE HARD LINES OF THE HULL AT THE BOW.  THERE WERE SEVERAL MORE GOUGES/CHIPPING OF THE GEL COAT DOWN THE STARBOARD HULL TOWARDS THE STERN. THERE WAS COMPRESSION DAMAGE AND STRIATIONS JUST BELOW THE BOW EYE THAT PROCEEDED DOWN THE HULL.  THERE WAS A LARGE AREA OF SCUFFING TOWARDS THE BOW THAT PROCEEDED DOWN THE STARBOARD SIDE TOWARDS THE STERN.  ALL OF THE LINES IN THE STRIATIONS AND SCUFFING INDICATED THERE WAS NOT MUCH CHANGE IN DIRECTION.
  
  DOCK:  ON THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE DOCK, THE PLASTIC EDGING AT THE CORNER HAD BEEN PARTIALLY TORN OFF OF THE DOCK.  THE UPPER METAL EDGING WAS WAVY AND MISSING PAINT BETWEEN THE LADDER AND CORNER.  THE NORTHERN LADDER POST WAS BENT SLIGHTLY INWARDS.  IT APPEARED THE UPPER EDGE OF THE NORTHERN HAND RAIL HAD BEEN PUSHED OUTWARDS, EXPOSING WHERE THE SET SCREW HAD ONCE BEEN.  THERE WAS A SMALL AMOUNT OF BLOOD STILL PRESENT ON THE NORTHERN HAND RAIL, AS WELL AS SCREWS ON THE UPPER EDGE OF THE DOCK BETWEEN THE LADDER AND CORNER.  WE WERE ADVISED THAT THE DOCK HAD ALREADY BEEN WASHED CLEAN BY THE OWNER BEFORE WE ARRIVED DUE TO THE LARGE AMOUNT OF BLOOD.  IT APPEARED THAT THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE DOCK WAS SITTING LOWER IN THE WATER THAN THE OTHER FOUR CORNERS OF THE DOCK.
  
  RECONSTRUCTION ANALYSIS:
  
  THE PWC WAS TRAVELING AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED IN AN EAST, NORTHEAST DIRECTION.  ACCORDING TO WITNESS STATEMENTS, THE OPERATOR OF THE PWC LET OFF OF THE THROTTLE JUST BEFORE THE COLLISION WITH THE DOCK.  THIS WOULD PROVIDE THE PWC WITH NO STEERING - AS IT IS JET POWERED AND WOULD NEED PROPULSION TO POWER THROUGH A TURN.  IT IS LIKELY THAT THE OPERATOR ATTEMPTED TO STEER AWAY FROM THE DOCK, BUT WITHOUT THROTTLING, A QUICK MANEUVER WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE.  PHYSICAL EVIDENCE ON BOTH THE PWC AND DOCK INDICATE THAT VESSEL STRUCK THE DOCK JUST BELOW THE BOW EYE, SLIGHTLY ON THE STARBOARD SIDE AND THEN TRAVELED UP AND OVER THE CORNER OF THE DOCK.  AT SOME POINT IN THE COLLISION THE PWC ALSO MADE CONTACT WITH THE METAL LADDER NEAR THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE DOCK.  BOTH SUBJECTS WERE EJECTED AND SERIOUSLY INJURED AS A RESULT OF THE COLLISION.
  