LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. — Video of a boating accident over Labor Day weekend has gone viral, receiving more than two million hits on YouTube.
The video, shot by LakeTV, shows its passengers being jostled then slamming face-first into each other and parts of the boat as it crossed the wake from another boat. The boat was traveling at an estimated 70-100 mph when the accident happened.
According to News-Leader.com, the driver, Marvin Carter of Memphis, Tenn., was cited with careless and imprudent operation. After the video was uploaded to YouTube, Carter received another citation.
“After seeing the video, he was charged with a seating violation,” Sgt. Jerry Callahan of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Water Division said in an interview with News-Leader.
While Callahan estimates the boat was traveling at 70 mph, a cameraman on the boat, Brett Tintera (seen wearing a blue T-shirt in the video), said Carter floored the boat moments before the accident.
“We were doing over 100,” he said.
The boat was participating in a Poker Run charity event. Carter and four passengers were taken to area hospitals, including Tintera. He suffered a broken leg, broken wrist and rupture disc in his back. Two women on board — a mother and daughter from Memphis — declined treatment at the scene, according to News-Leader.
Shawn Kober, co-owner of LakeTV, an independent television station, said it’s not uncommon for his crews to shoot on the lake.
“That’s just our niche,” he told News-Leader. “We film on the water.”
Kober said the video was just the right angle for the wrong moment.
