ON JULY 21, 2023, AT APPROXIMATELY 1330, A BOAT INCIDENT OCCURRED ON LAKE HICKORY APPROXIMATELY 0.5 MILES DOWNSTREAM FROM DUSTY RIDGE BOATING ACCESS AREA. THERE WERE TWO VESSELS INVOLVED. VESSEL ONE WAS A 10'9" BRP PWC WITH A 300 HP JET DRIVE ENGINE BEING OPERATED BY V1 OPERATOR.  VESSEL TWO WAS A 11'4" BOMBARDIER PWC WITH A 300 HP JET DRIVE ENGINE. IT WAS BEING OPERATED BY V2 OPERATOR.  BOTH VESSELS ARE OWNED BY THE FATHER OF V1 OPERATOR.

BOTH OPERATORS WERE DOING CIRCLES AT THE MOUTH OF A COVE. BOTH OPERATORS EXPLAINED THAT THE WATER FLYING UP FROM THE TIGHT CIRCLES CAUSED LIMITED VISIBILITY.  THE OPERATORS OF BOTH VESSELS CAME OUT OF THEIR MANEUVER AND REALIZED THE JET SKIS WERE ABOUT TO COLLIDE. VESSEL ONE STRUCK VESSEL TWO ON THE STARBOARD BOW SIDE EJECTING BOTH OPERATORS FROM THEIR PWC.  VESSEL TWO HAD SEVERE PENETRATING DAMAGE TO THE HULL WHERE VESSEL ONE STRUCK IT.   VESSEL ONE HAD MODERATE DAMAGE TO THE HULL JUST BELOW THE BOW EYE INCLUDING A CRACK PENETRATING THROUGH THE HULL OF THE VESSEL. VESSEL ONE ALSO HAD DEEP SCRATCHES ON THE PORT SIDE FROM WHERE VESSEL ONE DISENGAGED CONTACT WITH VESSEL TWO POST COLLISION.  THE OPERATOR OF VESSEL TWO HAD EXTREMELY MINOR SCRATCHES TO HIS HANDS THAT DID NOT REQUIRE TREATMENT BEYOND FIRST AID.  NO OTHER INJURY WAS REPORTED.  THE OPERATOR OF VESSEL ONE WAS TRANSPORTED BY AMBULANCE TO THE HOSPITAL WITH NON-LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES.  XRAYS FOUND NO BROKEN BONES OR PERMANENT DAMAGE TO THE OPERATOR OF VESSEL ONE.   DOCTORS DETERMINED THAT V1 OPERATOR'S INJURIES CONSISTED OF CONTUSIONS TO THE LEFT SIDE OF HIS UPPER AND LOWER BACK. 

IN CONCLUSION, THE CAUSE OF THE CRASH IS DETERMINED TO BE A COMBINATION OF FACTORS BY BOTH OPERATORS INCLUDING:  OPERATOR INEXPERIENCE, OPERATOR INATTENTION, AND OPERATING A PERSONAL WATERCRAFT AT GREATER THAN NO WAKE SPEED WITHIN 100 FT TO THE REAR OR 50 FT TO THE SIDE OF ANOTHER VESSEL THAT IS UNDERWAY.  ALCOHOL WAS NOT A FACTOR IN THIS CRASH.  AFTER SPEAKING WITH THE JUVENILE COURT COUNSELOR AND ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY IN CATAWBA COUNTY NO JUVENILE PETITIONS WERE FILED IN THIS CASE.


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LAKE HICKORY
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