Recent Bay Death Third of Summer
Volume 49, Issue 10
By David Crohn

The death of a 12-year-old girl on the Great South Bay last week has prompted officials and vacationers to take a sobering look at the popular boating spot, which has led Suffolk County in accidents in recent years.

There were 18 accidents in 2001, and 14 and 16 in 2002 and 2003, respectively, according to the New York State Parks Department.

And out of 204 boating accidents statewide, 75 were in Long Island.

Brianna Lieneck, of Deer Park, became the third person to be killed in the bay this summer when she and her family were struck by another boat underneath the Robert Moses Causeway Aug. 17.

There were no deaths on the bay last year, which means officials are hard pressed to say there is a trend. Nonetheless, “It’s almost cyclical,” said Chris Edmonston, a spokesman for the Boat Owners Association of the United States.

“Sometimes you can look at a place and you’ll see a rash of fatalities. Anecdotally there’s a lot of situations like weather, like certain events happening, that almost lead up to more people dying,” said Edmonston.

If the water’s very cold, for instance, a person without a life jacket can lose his or her breath in the water and be more susceptible to drowning. Or if a season sees particularly nice weather, the sheer volume of boaters—who aren’t required by law to seek training in water safety—can go up, especially near a popular spot like Fire Island.

A lifejacket should always be worn, Edmonston said, and when in doubt, slow down.

But Lieneck’s death, caused by a driver who was drinking, was “100 per cent avoidable.”

Patrolling the waters presents a unique challenge to Suffolk County Marine officers and the Coast Guard, who face non-licensed drivers that see boating as a right—not a privilege, as with a car. The Great South Bay can’t be well lit like a roadway, and without lines to keep drivers in their lanes, officials struggle with monitoring a boat’s lateral movement.

Although the legal blood alcohol limit for driving a boat is the same as for operating a car, open containers are allowed in boats.

And that leads to additional enforcement problems, said Edmonston.

“But do I recommend operating a boat with an open container? Absolutely not,” said Edmonston.