Serious Accident at Autherley - 31 May 2023

You seem to be having a conversation with yourself again.

One way to avoid these accidents is to not have a boat or ever go on a boat. Clever !

The incident/accident had nothing whatsoever to do with anyone being "distracted or momentarily unfocused", . . it had EVERTHING to do with repeating, once too often, a dangerous practice that he'd probably got away with God only knows how many times previously.

More often than not, people do get away with running in astern gear and standing within the radius that the tiller end can swing through, . . but that's down to the oversize rudder balances on most modern canal boats, . . not because they haven't been "distracted", or "momentarily unfocused".

Trotting out vapid tripe about being "distracted or momentarily unfocused" in place of speaking frankly and openly about the root cause of a very serious occurence that led to a death, won't help to get the vital message across to whoever's going to be next to be dragged into a prop running astern, . . will it ?

Internet boating forums are just the place where such a message, and much else directly related to serious safety matters, can be conveyed to those who need it most, . . and there's certainly no shortage of them !  

As there was apparently a fatality one may assume that the MAIB, which consists of people who actually do know what they are talking about. will do a full investigation and a report will be published.

They will probably include things like tox tests.

Assuming it was something the boater routinely did is just an assumption. Similarly assuming he was intoxicated would be an assumption.

Speculation can be interesting but nobody here actually knows why this happened. A full investigation and reconstruction. if the professionals do it, will be useful.

Vapid tripe from internet forum posters isn't.



There's certainly no shortage of them!

You're "unaware of any details" only because you choose to be, . . out of blinkered sheer stupidity.

Had you got someone with a rather better grasp of plain written English than you have, to read you the post on the CWDF thread put up by a Lloyd Chandler - one of the three people who actually got the victim, still alive at that time, out from under the counter of his boat - you would be aware that this man stated on CWDF that - quote " . . my understanding of the cause was that the rudder either grounded or hit the bank whilst reversing and the tiller swung and knocked him off. He was then dragged under the stern as the boat reversed and I believe his left arm became entangled in the propeller."

You're not being asked to "judge" the dead man's actions, . . you're being told that what happened to him WAS NOT the result of being  "distracted" or "momentarily unfocused", . . but WAS the result of being knocked off the counter of his boat by the tiller end as it swung quickly and unexpectedly round to one side with the prop turning in astern gear.

There's only one way that could happen -- he had to be standing somewhere within the radius that the tiller end swings through across the boat's counter, . . didn't he, . . you thick sanctimonious mealy-mouthed arsehole.
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When you, Alice, and the other half-dozen or so full-time forum disrupting/wrecking prats have finished dumping your mindless claptrap on this thread, I'll make another attempt to address this serious subject in the manner it deserves.