I posted here a few days ago about the death trap known as the Parker Strip
on the Colorado River between California and Arizona, in a thread about a
boating accident there. Speak of the devil, here's an article out just
today that makes me think my description was understated.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-river28sep28,1,3767744.story
What you wont see here are the pictures that were in the print edition.
They show among other things, a skier being pulled around docked boats,
three crosses with American flags erected at a rocky spot where three
boaters died last year, a couple drinking at one of the six floating dock
drive up bars and a map pointing out the location of the four fatal
accidents since May '02 that have resulted in nine deaths.
September 28, 2003
A Wild River Looks at Taming Its Future
By Christine Hanley, Times Staff Writer
PARKER, Ariz. For more than five decades, California and Arizona boaters
have been having a wet-and-wild good time in this far-flung desert outpost,
towing their power boats and other water toys to a playful twist of the
Colorado River known as Parker Strip.
On the craziest weekends, powerful racing boats whiz back and forth, chased
by Jet Skis and Wave Runners that crisscross in their path, jumping wakes
like water gnats. People on inner tubes and water skies are towed every
which way, while boaters out for a casual float bob like buoys, hoping just
to stay out of the way.
There are no speed limits. Skippers do not need a special license. And
visitors can booze it up any time by tying up at one of six bars, an all-
night Indian casino or any of the smaller resorts lining the waterfront.
It's part NASCAR, part Mardi Gras.
"This is a highway with no lanes and no directions," said Jack Withers, a
Northridge banker who has been making trips here for 30 years. "And
everyone drinks."
But the latest fatal speedboat collision, considered one of the worst along
the Parker Strip, is awakening debate on whether the river scene and its
nonstop spring-break party mood needs to be reined in. And there is
mounting concern that the risks are worsening as families from Orange and
Los Angeles counties snap up lavish second homes along the river, bringing
bigger and more powerful boats and small armadas of personal watercraft
with them.
The Sept. 19 accident, a jarring reminder of the power of the vessels along
the Parker Strip claimed the lives of a 21-year-old Laguna Hills man, his
sister, and her best friend, both 18.
Jonathan and Jacquel Herbert and Ashley Rollins died of blunt trauma and
drowning after their boat was broadsided by an oncoming speedboat that
struck their bow, then passed over the boat. A fourth passenger, Josh
Rodgers, 18, remains in a coma with serious head injuries.
"Maybe something like this will make us wake up and say 'Hey, maybe there's
a problem here,' " said Jay W. Howe, a La Paz County, Ariz., supervisor. "I
certainly would support anything that would improve the safety and lessen
the loss of life on the river."
Tamed by Parker Dam to the north and Headgate Dam to the south, the strip
snakes about 14 miles from Lake Havasu through clay-colored canyons and
dusty scrublands dividing California and Arizona. For better or worse,
danger has been part of this landscape since Marion Beaver set up the first
river racing course in 1947.
"It was a tremendous hit," said Beaver, who staged countless races over the
years, he and his friends setting speed records, and some of them dying,
along the way.
Before racing was introduced, Beaver said, nobody came to Parker. This town
of two stoplights and a virtually treeless downtown is a perfect square
mile, laid out as a stop for the Santa Fe Railway, its growth limited by
surrounding Indian land. The strip, a few miles away and outside the
reservation, has shaped the community's personality.
Campgrounds and recreational vehicle parks popped up along the banks,
providing cheap crash pads for the crowds as word spread about this new
boaters' paradise. The scene gained momentum in the 1960s and 1970s, when
boats formed huge flotillas across the river's span, allowing passengers to
party from deck to deck and shore to shore.
As accidents mounted, the strip gained a nickname: the "Red River."
Whether the river is safer now is a matter of intense debate.
According to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, of the 1,851 accidents
between 1998 and 2002 on the Colorado River, 272 occurred in the area
comprising Parker Strip and Lake Havasu.
Although authorities say accidents have been reduced and the crowds are
more family-oriented since the strip's "Fort Lauderdale West" days, others
say the risk has simply shifted as the bigger boats and fleets of personal
watercraft have moved in.
As the image of the strip has changed, so has its clientele. Wealthier
visitors tow in powerful "cigarette" boats with engines so large the
vessels sit nose up in the water, flattening out only when they reach top
speed. Jet Skis and Wave Runners, known as "water couches" on the river,
follow the big boats closely to ride their wake. Sometimes the small
watercraft are all but invisible to the boaters.
Speed is a relative term on the river. The rule is that boaters must
demonstrate "prudent" behavior, but there is no speed limit. One deputy
said he was once unable to ticket a boater who was traveling 119 mph.
Marine safety officers with the La Paz County Sheriff's Department, which
patrols the strip looking for drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs,
estimate that one in 10 drivers they stop is drunk or under the influence
of drugs.
The accident involving the Orange County youths was the second of the
summer on the strip, and investigators are trying to determine if alcohol
was a factor, a question hampered by the fact that Grier D. Rush, the
driver of the other boat, left the scene and returned two days later. He
remains in an Arizona jail with bail set at $1 million, charged with
leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
The other fatal accident this year was alcohol-related. A father of three
was riding a Wave Runner near the Moonridge Marina over the July 4th
weekend when he was struck and killed. The driver of the 26-foot power boat
that hit him was picked up and tested within two hours after fleeing.
Last year, six people died in three of 24 reported accidents along the
strip.
In one accident, two girls were hurled from a power boat that collided with
another vessel. In another, a passenger was killed when the skipper plowed
into a rock outcropping near Cattail Cove.
And three men were killed when their boat smacked a rock known as Bass
Point. Three white crosses remain on the rock.
"There's a lot of death that occurs up here," said La Paz Sheriff's Deputy
Jerry Burns, who has been reconstructing accidents for four years. "A lot
of it's driver inattention, and a lot of it's [due to] alcohol."
Imposing tougher rules on this popular, and profitable, way of life has
long been a challenge.
Clifford Edey, a La Paz County supervisor whose district includes the
strip, said the board must find the right balance between protecting the
public without destroying a scene that pumps an estimated $100 million into
the local economy.
Edey said he and other officials realize more is at stake now that Parker
is marketing itself as a safe place for families to come year-round. He's
trying to get more money for patrols. But right now, there are no serious
discussions about restrictions.
"We're walking that tightrope. We're trying to take careful steps one at a
time," he said. "It's tough to say 'no' to some things that are going to
bring lots of money to the area. But we're learning."
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