Jet Ski accident on my lake this weekend

ric · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:16 am

http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cf ... erson.html

I wasn't out and about when it happened Saturday but my phone was flooded with calls. The girls are in very serious condition. One has head injuries and the other is just a mess. No alcohol involved, just young and inexperienced. They were not residents of the lake as my lake is private, they were outsiders that followed someone through a gate.

jsimon · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:42 am

Probably me just hearing about them, but it seems there has been more jetski accidents this year than in the past.

ric · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:51 am

jsimon wrote:

Probably me just hearing about them, but it seems there has been more jetski accidents this year than in the past.

There's always at least one good one on my lake a year, but it's always someone running into a dock forgetting that jet ski's don't turn when off the throttle. I live on the biggest lake in the area but many years ago the old farts got every homeowners joined together 20 years ago and made an association to keep the lake private access only. They purchased all the land that the county could use to make a ramp. About 2 years ago the county got smart and started redesigning a drainage ditch into a really skinny park with a ramp but don't mess with old rich people. They lawyer'd up so big the county couldn't afford the fight and was forced to turn it into a wildlife area with a small nature trail.

Kelleyo · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:43 am

The idoits I see on Jet Skis are usually following a boat and jumping their wake. THe worst being a boat that is pulling kids in a tube, or a wakeboard. If a kid falls out of the tube, etc. the Jet Ski will likley run them over. I have also seen parents let their younger kids (12-14) take out wave runners and doing in excess of 60MPH.

THese are the folks ruining it for the rest of us.

ric · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:03 am

Kelleyo wrote:

The idoits I see on Jet Skis are usually following a boat and jumping their wake. THe worst being a boat that is pulling kids in a tube, or a wakeboard. If a kid falls out of the tube, etc. the Jet Ski will likley run them over. I have also seen parents let their younger kids (12-14) take out wave runners and doing in excess of 60MPH.

THese are the folks ruining it for the rest of us.

We were yelling/flicking one off this weekend, he didn't get the hint. Sunday the lake was empty (for obvious reasons) and we were wakesurfing loving the calm waters. Only boat on the water. Guess what? This freaking cunt on a jet ski WAS ALWAYS AROUND US. BIG EMPTY LAKE miles across and he made it his duty to chop up our water and go within 100ft of us constantly no matter where we went (not even jumping our wake). The owner of the wakesurfing boat took out his flare gun and was ready to shoot at him but lucky he went back to shore.

Mark T · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 11:05 am

I will say that our next purchase will be a wave runner, BUT, I'd like to think we are not stupid like so many. Saw one on Lake Michigan yesterday. 2 on the waverunner and 3 on the tube he was pulling. If I remember my Coast Guard boating safety class, you can only have the same number of people on board AND being towed as the ship/waverunner is rated for.

ie: 3 person waverunner, 2 on board, one being towed. My 10 person boat, could have 8 being towed and 2 on board.

Is that correct ??,

I don't think they make 5 person waverunners do they ??

ric · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 11:13 am

Well no matter how smart and advanced we think we are as a species, mother nature still weeds out the bad ones. I mean.. we're really not. The average person today is no smarter then someone 5000 years ago IQ wise. They might not have had Iphones but by no means were people dumb. You would think natural selection would have seen some kind of effect by now. Our physical bodies have changed but wow.. some people are really freaking stupid.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:40 pm

Ric natural selection is not really a force in who lives long enough to produce offspring, LOL. It was in the cavemen era but now, it's a different world.

The problem is training, kids think that they get a boating safety course cert and that's all good but do they have enough experience to operate it safely by themselves, of course not! This is what I told my son who is very responsible, he thought he was ready but I took him out on a slightly rough day and he could see easily that he needed a lot more practice handling rough water to be safe.

You would not let your kid just take driver's ed with hardly any practice, yes they could pass the road test but you would not turn em loose on the Long Island Expressway, that's plain stupid. They are not ready plain and simple, it takes a whole season of regular practice at least to be a safe operator.

I had to lean the hard way, got my license from a driving school and took drivers ed but had to learn on the NYS Thruway, Saw Mill Parkway, Taconic Parkway, etc all dangerous roads not lit at light back in the 70s. And I was lucky, but that's not the best way to learn. Parents have to take the responsibility to make them practice, the license or boater safety cert ain't nearly enough.

ric · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:47 pm

Here in Florida (the law) anyone born on or after January 1, 1988 must take the boaters safety course, pass it, and carry around the card when operating anything more then 10hp. How many people do? None.

I have a card fetish so I do all the training to get things like hunting safety card, boating safety, concealed weapons, passport card, every hunting/fishing permit available, ID card along with the DL, NOAA storm spotter, etc etc. Pretty much anything that gives me a plastic card to carry around that gives me privileges I get. That also includes any Member/VIP card for anywhere I frequent often. I have a lamination machine to make any paper ones plastic

Kelleyo · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 1:10 pm

ric wrote:

Here in Florida (the law) anyone born on or after January 1, 1988 must take the boaters safety course, pass it, and carry around the card when operating anything more then 10hp. How many people do? None.

I have a card fetish so I do all the training to get things like hunting safety card, boating safety, concealed weapons, passport card, every hunting/fishing permit available, ID card along with the DL, NOAA storm spotter, etc etc. Pretty much anything that gives me a plastic card to carry around that gives me privileges I get. That also includes any Member/VIP card for anywhere I frequent often. I have a lamination machine to make any paper ones plastic

Your wallet must be a foot thick :mrgreen:

ric · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 1:14 pm

Kelleyo wrote:

ric wrote:

Here in Florida (the law) anyone born on or after January 1, 1988 must take the boaters safety course, pass it, and carry around the card when operating anything more then 10hp. How many people do? None.

I have a card fetish so I do all the training to get things like hunting safety card, boating safety, concealed weapons, passport card, every hunting/fishing permit available, ID card along with the DL, NOAA storm spotter, etc etc. Pretty much anything that gives me a plastic card to carry around that gives me privileges I get. That also includes any Member/VIP card for anywhere I frequent often. I have a lamination machine to make any paper ones plastic

Your wallet must be a foot thick :mrgreen:

I keep them in a drawer and just the ones I know I use all the time in my wallet. I don't even hunt or own a handgun LOL

Bliss36 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 2:16 pm

Kelleyo wrote:

Your wallet must be a foot thick :mrgreen:

TX H210SS · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:10 am **Posts:** 1488

regardless...i hope the girls all recover......you add a motor to anything and it can get dangerous in a hurry. I agree on the tag along jetski folks being nuts. It leaves you no option when towing someone. You cant speed up or slow down without putting the one behind you in more danger.

If they would arrest a couple for reckless conduct and have a towboat haul the jetski off like a wrecker - i bet word would spread pretty quick.

ardy · **Posted:** Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:31 am

Just when you think you have fixed the idiot problem, the world produces better idiots...........sigh!!!

LouC · **Posted:** Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:31 am

While there are never any shortage of idiots, teenagers do not have the judgement in many cases to operate one of those things safely without a LOT of practice. Letting one loose with a jetski and no experience is negligent on the part of the parents. Like I said you do not hand the keys to a new driver 16 years old and say OK now you can drive from Long Island to Manhattan on the LIE in rush hour.....

If I had a jetski that my son wanted to drive, I'd make him practice a couple hrs a day for a few weeks every day with ME with him, no way I would feel OK unless I saw with my own eyes he was ready. What we did back in the 70s etc doesn't mean a damn thing, this is really common sense.

www.iFourWinns.com

Jet Ski accident on my lake this weekend

Who is online