BriEOD
08-17-2004, 08:50 AM
Looks like Rick has been on a trip to Charlotte with his women!! :D
Bare-Naked Boating Stops Traffic
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Boaters in the buff are literally stopping traffic near Interstate 77 in North Carolina.
Naked and bathing suit-clad boaters at Lake Norman (search) have recently been flashing drivers and causing major gaper delays — at times even bringing traffic to a standstill and causing crashes, according to The Charlotte, N.C., Observer.
The baring-it-all boaters at the causeway running between Iredell and Mecklenburg counties have brought in dozens of complaints to the Lake Norman Marine Commission, the paper reported last week.
"They get right up to that riprap, and they take their clothes off," the Observer quoted Iredell County sheriff's Deputy Phil Jones as telling the commission.
The "riprap" are the rocks where the lake and land meet at the bottom of the causeway. And on the interstate, motorists have a clear view of the water as they cross over it, according to the Observer.
Jones told the paper he's heard of at least one car crash that happened when rubbernecked drivers were busier looking at the boaters in birthday suits than they were at the highway. A smattering of complaints about the flashers has also come in, he said.
But cops have to catch flashers in the act of, well, flashing in order to arrest them. The nude boaters are often long gone by the time officers can get to the scene, Jones told the Observer.
Marine Commissioner Mark Lancaster of Iredell County saw the nudists himself, the newspaper reported.
Lancaster was near the Lake Norman/Interstate 77 causeway when he witnessed the jaw-dropping shenanigan himself. After he heard trucks honking and saw traffic stopping, he noticed three bare-naked ladies in a boat near the area in question, he told the Observer.
But marine commissioners and police said the nudity wasn't all that was bringing cars to a honking, screeching halt. Gaper delays have happened along that stretch of highway for any number of reasons.
"I've seen traffic jams looking at the sunset," the Observer quoted Marine Commission Chairman Randy Reece as saying.
Reece told the paper the rubbernecking was caused accidentally when the North Carolina Department of Transportation removed the fence along the causeway and started cutting back the bushes that used to block lake views.
"I think the lake looks a lot better without that fence," he told the Observer. "I think that is what has caused this problem with DOT."
The clusters of boats in that part of I-77 began recently, after the commission approved a new safety rule barring rafters from Cocktail Cove in Iredell County, according to the Observer. The paper reported that residents were upset about "nudity, drunkenness and obnoxious behavior."
Bare-Naked Boating Stops Traffic
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Boaters in the buff are literally stopping traffic near Interstate 77 in North Carolina.
Naked and bathing suit-clad boaters at Lake Norman (search) have recently been flashing drivers and causing major gaper delays — at times even bringing traffic to a standstill and causing crashes, according to The Charlotte, N.C., Observer.
The baring-it-all boaters at the causeway running between Iredell and Mecklenburg counties have brought in dozens of complaints to the Lake Norman Marine Commission, the paper reported last week.
"They get right up to that riprap, and they take their clothes off," the Observer quoted Iredell County sheriff's Deputy Phil Jones as telling the commission.
The "riprap" are the rocks where the lake and land meet at the bottom of the causeway. And on the interstate, motorists have a clear view of the water as they cross over it, according to the Observer.
Jones told the paper he's heard of at least one car crash that happened when rubbernecked drivers were busier looking at the boaters in birthday suits than they were at the highway. A smattering of complaints about the flashers has also come in, he said.
But cops have to catch flashers in the act of, well, flashing in order to arrest them. The nude boaters are often long gone by the time officers can get to the scene, Jones told the Observer.
Marine Commissioner Mark Lancaster of Iredell County saw the nudists himself, the newspaper reported.
Lancaster was near the Lake Norman/Interstate 77 causeway when he witnessed the jaw-dropping shenanigan himself. After he heard trucks honking and saw traffic stopping, he noticed three bare-naked ladies in a boat near the area in question, he told the Observer.
But marine commissioners and police said the nudity wasn't all that was bringing cars to a honking, screeching halt. Gaper delays have happened along that stretch of highway for any number of reasons.
"I've seen traffic jams looking at the sunset," the Observer quoted Marine Commission Chairman Randy Reece as saying.
Reece told the paper the rubbernecking was caused accidentally when the North Carolina Department of Transportation removed the fence along the causeway and started cutting back the bushes that used to block lake views.
"I think the lake looks a lot better without that fence," he told the Observer. "I think that is what has caused this problem with DOT."
The clusters of boats in that part of I-77 began recently, after the commission approved a new safety rule barring rafters from Cocktail Cove in Iredell County, according to the Observer. The paper reported that residents were upset about "nudity, drunkenness and obnoxious behavior."