The same thing happened to me in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The boat driver said that he was day dreaming, it was a clear day and he was in the middle of the river, about a 1/4 mile outside of the channel.
The court let him walk (with court cost) and only advised him to take a boating safety class and to have insurance for his boat (neither were a legal requirement when this occurred). The judge was unaware of state or federal laws and had I not had a copy of the USCG nav rules and regs, the judge would have been totally clueless as to to to maritime navigation (his comment was that he only thought that it was here-say that sailboats had the right away...).
The center, back of my lifejacket took the full blow of the V of the bottom of the boat and when I went below the surface as my sailboat was crushed, it saved me by putting me on the surface right away.
The short story is that there are numerous boats moving about daily, with skippers that ARE NOT paying attention, or fully comprehend the requirement to boat safely, according to both state and federal rules and regulations (and common sense)...
