12/14/2023 0 Comments Kill switch boat![]() As part of a group of celebrities at the tournament, Fowlkes, a sportswriter, and a local bass fisherman were headed back for the weigh in, the steering cable broke, the boat ejected all three men, circled, and the propeller fatally struck Mr. In October 1973 Vernon Fowlkes, a supplier to the bass fishing and bass tournament industry from Tulsa Oklahoma, was killed during the 1973 Bassmaster Classic III tournament in South Carolina. Mars Safety Switch Company (advertising theirs in the Feb/Mar 1974 issue of American Bass Fisherman).ģ. ![]() Patent 3,889,089 filed in December 1973 with an October 1972 priority date, then issued in June 1975).Ģ. Tomlin (published in the May/June 1973 issue of Bassmaster magazine and U.S. Still others developing kill switches for recreational boats in this era and even earlier include:ġ. The article reports the kill switch is in a boat M&M will be showing at the Midwest Boat Travel Boat Sport and Travel Show which opens Friday at the fairgrounds. Should the boat lurch for any reason, like hitting a log or the steering fail, and the driver be thrown from the seat, the cord will pull and turn the engine off, killing the engine.” ![]() “Ernie McBride of M and M Marine, has designed a kill switch with a cord and alligator clip that attaches to the boat driver’s clothing. UPDATE – While Horton’s “Quick Kill” is widely viewed as the first recreational kill switch on the market, we came across an interesting article covering another switch a just little earlier. His switch is widely viewed as the first commercially available kill switch designed specifically for use in recreational boats, vs. Patent 3,786,892 on 22 January 1974, and entered productions with the “Quick Kill” kill switch in August 1974. George Horton, of Fort Worth Texas, applied for a patent on his “Quick Kill” recreational boat kill switch on 29 November 1972. Two young men on the Potomac River were ejected, the boat began to circle at full throttle, they dove repeatedly to try to escape to boat and propeller, one was eventually struck in the head and drowned, the other was struck in the shoulder.īy the early 1950ʼs boat kill switches of multiple designs were used in National Outboard Racing Association boats. The earliest example we have found was reported 14 July 1935 in the New York Times. The basic problem of unmanned boats going in circles (the Circle of Death) has been known a long time. Coast Guard is still considering regulations that would require boat builders to install kill switches (emergency engine cut-off switches) in all new recreational boats below a certain length and separately considering making their use mandatory, they have been on the market for over 30 years. Always wear your kill switch, lifejacket and other PPE (personal protective equipment), and know your equipment! Big thanks to the guys who picked us up that day, they probably saved our lives.Lanyard photo courtesy of The U.S. Despite having been on the water my whole life, I didn't truly know how unforgiving the water could be and how quickly things can go wrong. "I bypassed donning my usual safety precautions because I was distracted and it almost cost us our lives. The video shows the anglers as they commandeer the runaway boat and shut down the throttle.īroussard posted the footage along with a convincing caption: "My dad and I were fishing in Toledo Bend in 2018 when this occurred," he wrote. Luckily, another boat came along and picked up the fishermen before the accident turned tragic. The video captures the now driverless boat as it turns circles and passes alarmingly close to the fishermen as they float helplessly on the surface. Both anglers were wearing their lifejackets, but the driver wasn't wearing a functional kill switch. The sudden shift catapults both fishermen over the starboard gunwale and into the water. ![]() The video shows two anglers motoring on the lake in a bass boat at a high rate of speed when something causes the boat to hook hard to the port side. One of the best was published in April by Michael Broussard. There are some good examples of kill switch negligence floating around on YouTube. ![]()
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