HARRISON – A lake collision in which one boat was sliced in two by a large, high-powered speed boat is spurring a discussion about whether steps need to be taken to better protect boaters on Maine’s lakes and ponds.

Investigators haven’t determined the cause of the fatal collision a week ago on Long Lake, but the size of one of the boats raised eyebrows.

The 32-foot Dominator operated by Robert Lapointe of Medway, Mass., had twin 435-horsepower engines with a top speed of 80 mph. Some have questioned whether that was too much boat for a lake that’s 11 miles long and up to a mile wide.

At the time of the collision, Terry Raye Trott, 55, of Naples, and his companion, Suzanne Groetzinger, 44, of Berwick, were watching the Perseid meteor shower on the evening of Aug. 11. Both were killed and their 14-foot boat was broken into two pieces.

Lapointe, 38, and his passenger, Nicole Randall, 19, of Bridgton, were thrown into the water while their boat raced ashore, coming to a rest 135 feet inland. Both Lapointe and Randall suffered minor injuries and were able to swim to shore.

“I would hope that people in the communities in southern Maine take a long hard look at this and come to some sort of consensus to support enhanced enforcement or maybe actually restrict watercraft size and motor size,” Maine Warden Service Lt. Patrick Dorian told the Boston Globe.

Nationally, the number of boating deaths, injuries and incidents of property damage increased for the second consecutive year in 2006, according to the Coast Guard.

Seventy percent of the 710 boaters killed in 2006 were on vessels operated by sailors with no formal training. Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the three New England states that do not require adult boaters to pass a safety course.

In Maine, there are no speed limits on lakes and ponds, either. And the Maine Warden Service has only 125 wardens to patrol nearly 6,000 lakes and ponds.

Boaters on Little Sebago Lake in Maine have taken matters into their own hands by forming a citizen patrol using a 24-foot motorboat outfitted with a blue light and the words “Safety Patrol” painted on the side.

Friday evenings and weekends, volunteers cruise the lake, wearing blue shirts and caps emblazoned with “Safety Patrol.” They say they will summon the police if necessary but they haven’t had to do that so far this summer.

“My idea is just to make people slow down and think and maybe prevent an accident,” organizer Suzanne LaMontagne said.

As for the Long Lake investigation, it could take several days to a couple of weeks to complete the crash reconstruction, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Once that’s complete, wardens will present their findings to the district attorney, who will decide what charges, if any, are warranted.