A group of salmon fisherman who abandoned ship by leaping into the frigid waters of the Columbia River last summer — an instant before an out of control speeding motorboat crashed into his — has filed a $372,500 lawsuit against the other driver. More details can be found here: http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2018/01/chilling_video_fisherman_jumps.html
County sheriff’s deputies have accused boat driver Marlin Lee Larsen of several crimes. The 75-year-old told investigators he couldn’t see where he was driving because he was sitting down and the dash of his boat was blocking his view. Larsen said he probably should have been standing, according to the sheriff’s report, which notes Larsen uses a motorized scooter to get around on land.
Larsen’s son-in-law, who also was on the boat, told investigators that he had warned his father-in-law to pay attention, that he sometimes sees his father-in-law using his cell phone while driving the boat and that his father-in-law had been off-and-on his cell phone the morning of the crash, according to the sheriff’s report.