A marine officer standing in his docked patrol boat in Fort Myers, Fla., was lucky he was paying attention when a boater attempted to dock some 50-feet away otherwise he might have been nursing a bit of whiplash, if not something worse.
That’s because the driver of the boat accidentally hit the throttle and crashed into the patrol boat. The Fort Myers Police Department posted video of the accident on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/fmpolice/videos/703697273495405/?__xts__[0]=68.ARApGQ8ErOT5NHsozXyP7-wf18ybJFxLLGMOlMFxw-t_ywbIc0SC9wNgWFLFZ1ZXciNFCjf0Ab7vL6Viae8V-F5pC3KHYIMKU7JYgCg3znCAup5gqSgcKiq03K0TgjOTXWIVWALrA8shhAwzZxyJvlKrLR0BmAQ_Z7CDbAXxoy6rznPFlLKGxL-ouz-mvUVFOn0xLRB0w46bpYU7sYizLKHFGn1RQ-XtsW6YuNBOmdYC0QY_VQ1KULt9Wfj0tz4NxEvvpslSVftUt-kNsElO0pIxQ_mW937dSABuag3QejyEBBROopY6TY94Okzt47KSsGz5mK0N3eFCymdEm8ez8sxPrY5fcA&__tn__=-R
As seen from a surveillance camera, the boat slowed as it came upon the dock, and an occupant standing on the bow tossed a rope to someone on the dock. Suddenly the occupant standing on the bow was no longer standing when the boat suddenly lurched forward along the dock toward the Fort Myers Police Department Marine Patrol Boat.
Marine officer Curr quickly leaped out of his boat onto the dock just in time to see the runaway boat hit the back end of his patrol boat. Curr wasted little time getting on the radio to report the incident.
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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigated the accident and cited the driver of the boat for careless operation of a vessel, according to WBBH.
Fortunately there were no injuries, but both engines of the patrol boat were damaged.
Photo courtesy of the Fort Myers Police Department.