PWC-related accidents’ most frequent causes are:
- Operator error.
- Equipment malfunction or failure.
- Recreational-boat operator inexperience.
- The operators’ lack of maintenance and knowledge.
The operators also lack professional training and maintenance knowledge or knowledge about the personal watercraft and his/her inability to control the personal watercraft.
The injuries sustained in PWC-related accidents often involve the operator’s neck, back, head, extremities, eyes, and brain. They also can involve injuries to the operator’s eyes, ears, and lips. They are also common in PWC-related injuries involving recreational boating-entertainment and can occur due to the operator’s operator-incompetence or lack of knowledge about PWC operations.
Personal watercraft-related accidents usually include a combination of catastrophic injuries, traumatic amputations, disfigurement, blindness, paralysis, and traumatic brain injury. They can also include serious burns, concussions, blunt-force injuries lacerations, lacerations, and spinal cord injuries.
In one recent survey, the survey showed PWC-related injuries’ rate to be 1 out of every 106 operations. This rate is much higher than in similar personal watercraft accidents, which were reported to be 1 in 10,000 operations. In the same survey, the rate of reported injuries was also shown to be higher in recreational boating accidents involving water skis. This is because many operators do not possess any water safety training.
The amount of time between the purchase of a new PWC and the accident is concise. Most operators purchased their boat before they completed any boating safety training, nor took advantage of any boating safety information or education programs. Most of these operators are the owners of other types of personal watercraft, and the operator of the PWC bought it without any safety training or educational information. Operators must obtain the necessary safety training to ensure that they are aware of any hazards related to using a PWC and reduce the risk of injury. Also, many operators are in a hurry to get a boat out on the water and rush through safety training, often ignoring important safety information or steps that may save them time and money.
Some of the steps that a good operator of a PWC can take to reduce the chance of injury include:
* Properly load a boat for transport. Most operators are in the habit of letting their PWC weigh down or not properly brace their boat for transport. If a boat is allowed to float, it is much easier to capsize and cause injury. While some operators have taken to putting weights on their boats, this can be very dangerous and may result in capsizing. This is especially true if operators plan to transport their boat across bodies of water, where the weight of the boat could act as an obstacle. Instead, operators must place some weight on their boat to prevent the possibility of it capsizing.
* Do not drive a boat across bodies of water or around shore breaks without first making sure that the boat is properly stabilized and that any rigging is in place.
* While on the water, be sure to keep a close eye on any people, especially children. This means supervising children’s play and making sure that kids are sitting properly out of the water. It also means supervising children’s swimming and making sure that children are wearing life jackets.
* Never use alcohol or drugs while on the water to become impaired and lose control of your boat.