New Lighting Plan Seeks To Improve Boater Safety Near Tappan Zee Bridge
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- New safety precautions designed to protect boaters are in place near the Tappan Zee Bridge.
The new lighting plan will more clearly distinguish the channel from the bridge and make it easier for vessels to pass through the construction zone, the Coast Guard said.
In July, two boaters were killed and four others were hurt when a boat slammed into a barge near the bridge at night, CBS 2 reported.
The pilot of the boat, Jojo John of Nyack, has been charged with vehicular manslaughter in the deaths of Lindsey Stewart and Mark Lennon.
Stewart would have been married two weeks later; Lennon was to be the best man. They were thrown into the Hudson River when their boat hit a Tappan Zee construction barge.
An attorney for Jojo John maintains alcohol had nothing to do with the fatal crash. Rather, John's lawyer claims no one saw the barge in the dark because it wasn't well lit.
Stewart's family has also blamed poor lighting on the barge.
The first span of the new Tappan Zee is scheduled to open in 2016.
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