James Doug Pitcock Jr., CEO of Williams Brothers Construction Co., Texas’ largest highway construction company, was operating a speeding boat that crashed and killed a woman over Labor Day Weekend. Mr. Pitcock, who is 82 years-old, was treated at Hermann Memorial Hospital in the Medical Center for injuries he received in the accident. Pitcock made a 911 call on Sunday morning of Labor Day Weekend, reporting he crashed his boat into the woods near the FM 270 boat ramp and Clear Creek Nature Park. Police believe he lost control of the boat, which was speeding, leading the boat to hit the creek bank and go 100 to 150 feet airborne. Pitcock was able to remain in his recreational boat while it plowed through trees, but sadly, his boating passengers were ejected. The boat was a 23-foot fiberglass Seadoo.
Pitcock’s boating companion was Marilyn Ruth McCormick, age 48, who tragically died Sunday at the hospital as a result of the injuries she sustained in the Texas recreational boating accident. Her son, Gage McCormick-Metoyer, 9, was also injured in the boat accident and is now listed in good condition at Children’s Memorial Hospital in the Medical Center.
Marilyn McCormick, a 1983 graduate of Texas A&M University, was a Houston-area math teacher.
Clear Lake police, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are currently in the process of reconstructing the fatal Texas boating accident. Investigators are also waiting on toxicology reports to determine whether Pitcock was operating a boat under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident. The goal is to determine if this boat crash was an accident or if the events will give rise to criminal prosecution. There are no witnesses to the crash.
As we previously discussed on our blog, recreational boating accident deaths are on the rise.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety announced in its 2009 Recreational Boating Statistics report that deaths caused by recreational boating accidents have increased 3.8%, with related injuries increasing by 0.8%. A total of 4,730 accidents in 2009 caused 736 deaths, over 3,300 injuries and about $36 million in property damage. A number called the fatality rate, which compares the number of annual deaths against the number of registered boats, increased to 5.8 deaths per 100,000 registered boats in 2009.
As would be expected, alcohol consumption “continues to be of major concern” in fatal accidents, and was the leading factor in 16% of recreational boating accident deaths nationwide. In addition, 86% of boat operators involved in fatal accidents had not received boat safety instruction.
As Texas Maritime Lawyers we encourage all recreational boaters to wear life jackets, take boating safety courses each year and most of all we ask that you please do not operate a boat under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
