Personal Watercraft Injury Summary

I know these things are dangerous, but..

http://www.pwcwatch.org/Accident%20Links.htm rectal/vaginal lacerations????

edit:

scromp: having fallen off a few pwcs i am not surprised at the rectal issues there

I love the dry, restrained prose of safety experts. They can’t just say “The damn things are too small, everyone’s an idiot, and they go fast. And stop fucking drinking!” From the California state boating safety report:

Representative Accidents

•  Two PWC operators were riding together, on a parallel course.  They were trying to converse and maneuvered closer to each other, but did so unsuccessfully and sideswiped each other.  A passenger aboard one vessel sustained a broken leg as a result.

•  A PWC operator approached a ski boat in a crossing situation and altered his course in order to cross behind that vessel.  He failed to see that the ski boat was towing a tube and struck it.  The tuber sustained a severe head injury and a broken elbow.

•  An operator was traveling too fast considering her proximity to the shoreline.  She attempted to avoid the wake of another vessel and quickly changed course, grounding the vessel.  She sustained a broken elbow and the vessel sustained major damage.

•  A PWC operator was traveling too fast in a 5 MPH zone. He shut off the engine as he approached shore and then lost steering capability and struck a beached vessel.  A person aboard the beached vessel sustained facial and internal injuries.

•  The PWC operator executed a donut at a high rate of speed, causing his passenger to lose his grip, fall overboard, and dislocate his shoulder.

Additional Safety Concerns

•  Many PWC operators do not realize that when they let off the throttle, they lose steering capability.  Numerous accidents have resulted from this lack of knowledge.

•  PWC sometimes present a danger to their riders because of the craft’s lack of visibility when it capsizes.  Riders who are attempting to remount their PWC are often not visible to other watercraft, and are liable to be struck by other vessels.

•  Although rare, lanyards sometimes present difficulties for operators.  In one case, the operator fell overboard and was injured, rendering him unable to swim back to the craft.  Since the lanyard was on his wrist, the passenger was unable to maneuver the craft to retrieve him.  In other cases, lanyards became detached and could not be reattached quickly enough to avoid grounding or colliding with another vessel.  These situations are rare, but noteworthy.