GILROY
– A 28-year-old woman was killed Sunday afternoon at Coyote
Reservoir when the personal watercraft she was riding with her
boyfriend collided with another personal watercraft.
GILROY – A 28-year-old woman was killed Sunday afternoon at Coyote Reservoir when the personal watercraft she was riding with her boyfriend collided with another personal watercraft.
Almost immediately following the collision several park rangers performed CPR on the woman, but county paramedics pronounced her dead by the time a CALSTAR helicopter arrived on the scene, according to county parks officials.
The name of the woman is not being released until her family is notified, and details of the cause of death are still being determined by the coroner’s office. The man she was riding with on the personal watercraft was taken by ground ambulance to a San Jose hospital to be treated for minor injuries, county parks officials said.
County parks officials said alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the accident.
“We’re using park staff to recreate the scene today so we can determine exactly what happened,” said Tamara Clark-Shear, spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Parks Department. Clark-Shear said the 28-year-old victim was wearing a life jacket at the time of the collision, which occurred at about 4:30 p.m.
“We issued the standard boating accident ticket (to the man driving the personal watercraft that collided with the victim) yesterday,” she said, “but depending on what we find today that can change.”
According to Clark-Shear, the collision took place in the reservoir’s “5 mph zone” close to Sandy Beach. The 5 mph zone is marked that way because of its proximity to the shore, and there is normally no wake or high speeds in the area, Clark-Shear said.
But according to witnesses, several personal watercraft drivers at the reservoir Sunday afternoon were disregarding the posted speed limits and creating wake even in the 5 mph zones.
The fatal water accident is the second of the year at a county reservoir; the other fatality took place at Lexington Reservoir near Los Gatos, Clark-Shear said.
“All day there were plenty of Waverunners (a brand of personal watercraft) and jet skis driving recklessly,” said Mark Zappa, a Gilroy resident who spent Sunday on his boat at Coyote Reservoir with his wife and two daughters. Zappa is a longtime season-pass holder at the reservoir, and he said it is not uncommon to see personal watercraft drivers pushing 60 mph; the maximum speed allowed at the reservoir is 35 mph.
On Sunday, just 20 minutes before the fatal collision occurred, Zappa helped tow one of the victim’s friends to shore.
“A girl’s jet ski got disabled in the middle of the reservoir, and she flagged us down to tow her in,” Zappa said. “When we got to shore, she said ‘drop me off by the girl waving at us with the two-piece swimsuit.’ … Later when the helicopter landed we saw that the girl on the stretcher was the one in the two-piece suit. They pulled the blanket over her face and her nice friend we towed in 20 minutes before started screaming.”
According to Clark-Shear, personal watercraft drivers do not need a permit or license, but must be at least 16 to use the vehicles at county reservoirs or be accompanied on the watercraft by an 18-year-old.
The name and age of the man whose personal watercraft collided with the victim is not being released by the parks department, except that he is an adult.
Zappa said Coyote Reservoir was a bit more crowded than normal Sunday, possibly because nearby Anderson Reservoir is still closed for another couple weeks while its boat ramp is repaired.
“It was a very tragic scene,” Zappa said. “We saw the girl and her friends just 20 minutes before, and they were all having such a good time. It’s a hard one to digest.”
