Imagine a perfect summer day, few clouds, light wind and plenty of warm sun. You and your significant other have planned to join your best friend and your best friend’s significant other for a day on the water on your best friend’s boat. You and your best friend decide to catch up while your better halves enjoy a ride on the inner tube attached to the boat. What starts out as a perfect day, ends in tragedy as your friend mistakenly takes a sharp turn that launches the inner tube with both of your significant others into a dock resulting in the death of your significant other.
A widower who lost his 30-year-old wife in a boating accident has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his former best friend. The boating accident that led to the death of the man’s wife occurred on June 21, 2009. The best friend was driving the boat and decided to take a sharp turn when pulling the two men’s wives on an inner tube. The sharp turn had a whip-like effect and threw the two women into a nearby dock. Both of the women were sent into the air. The best friend’s wife sustained serious injuries and survived. The 30-year-old wife suffered crushed ribs and a crushed leg from the impact. The woman was transported to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Alcohol tests were administered after the crash and the best friend who had been driving the boat had a blood alcohol content of 0.16 percent. The legal blood alcohol limit is .08 percent. Witnesses on the boat said the best friend yelled “watch this” before making the extreme turn. The best friend was convicted of manslaughter and will serve two to four years in prison.
Source: Omaha World-Herald, “Man Sues Ex-Friend in Wife’s Death,” Todd Cooper, 10/29/10
