A Wild River Looks at Taming Its Future

On the craziest weekends, powerful racing boats whiz back and forth, chased by Jet Skis and Wave Runners that crisscross in their path, jumping wakes like water gnats. People on inner tubes and water skies are towed every which way, while boaters out for a casual float bob like buoys, hoping just to stay out of the way.

There are no speed limits. Skippers do not need a special license. And visitors can booze it up any time by tying up at one of six bars, an all-night Indian casino or any of the smaller resorts lining the waterfront.

It's part NASCAR, part Mardi Gras.

"This is a highway with no lanes and no directions," said Jack Withers, a Northridge banker who has been making trips here for 30 years. "And everyone drinks."

But the latest fatal speedboat collision, considered one of the worst along the Parker Strip, is awakening debate on whether the river scene and its nonstop spring-break party mood needs to be reined in. And there is mounting concern that the risks are worsening as families from Orange and Los Angeles counties snap up lavish second homes along the river, bringing bigger and more powerful boats and small armadas of personal watercraft with them.

The Sept. 19 accident -- a jarring reminder of the power of the vessels along the Parker Strip -- claimed the lives of a 21-year-old Laguna Hills man, his sister, and her best friend, both 18.

Jonathan and Jacquel Herbert and Ashley Rollins died of blunt trauma and drowning after their boat was broadsided by an oncoming speedboat that struck their bow, then passed over the boat. A fourth passenger, Josh Rodgers, 18, remains in a coma with serious head injuries.

"Maybe something like this will make us wake up and say 'Hey, maybe there's a problem here,' " said Jay W. Howe, a La Paz County, Ariz., supervisor. "I certainly would support anything that would improve the safety and lessen the loss of life on the river."

Tamed by Parker Dam to the north and Headgate Dam to the south, the strip snakes about 14 miles from Lake Havasu through clay-colored canyons and dusty scrublands dividing California and Arizona. For better or worse, danger has been part of this landscape since Marion Beaver set up the first river racing course in 1947.