Too Fast For Conditions"
LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. -- An Illinois man is dead after being thrown overboard from a Cigarette boat at the 8-Mile Marker. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Timothy R. Ridens, 41, of Staunton, Ill., was driving the 1994 Cigarette "too fast for conditions" at 6:45 p.m., Friday, July 29, when the vessel hit a wake, ejecting Ridens and injuring multiple occupants. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. Safe boating is the aim of all boaters and comes from education/training and experience. This excerpt from a recent Boating Statistics report, provided by the United States Coast Guard, is presented in the interest of safety by helping boaters learn from the experience of others. FATALITY RATE Historically, one indicator of safety in recreational boating is the fatality rate, e.g., the number of reported fatalities as compared to the number of registered recreational boats. the Coast Guard counted 5,265 accidents that involved 767 deaths, 3,191 injurie