The Buzz About a Pest Gets Louder

So it’s Labor Day and summer’s almost over. That means the gnats soon will be coming off the water. Those swarming, buzzing, annoying water gnats. Good riddance.

Most people just refer to these pests by their common name, “jet skis.” But since Jet Ski is a brand name, the boat-manufacturing industry has concocted a nondescript euphemism--”personal watercraft,” or PWC.

I wrote about PWCs on Memorial Day and wouldn’t be writing again now, except that last week the esteemed Journal of the American Medical Assn. stepped forward to warn us about these critters. While written in arcane researchese, the Journal’s message is clear: The little buggers are a menace.

The article was produced by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, which studied “jet skiers” treated at hospital emergency wards from 1990 through 1995.

Researchers found roughly a fourfold yearly increase in treated injuries, reaching an estimated 12,288 in 1995. The biggest jump came during that final year of study, a dramatic 76% rise.

It can’t all be blamed on more “jet skis” on the water. Their numbers increased only threefold over the six years, to an estimated 760,000. And their increase during the 76% injury escalation was just 27%.

Another note: The injury rate for “jet skis” was 8.5 times higher than for motorboats.

“These watercraft are cheaper, allow swifter movement and attain faster speeds in less time compared with larger, motor-driven boats,” the Journal points out. Legs and heads were the main victims.

The Journal’s conclusion: “Specific training for PWC users would be appropriate, much like training that is offered for persons operating boats. . . . Parental or adult supervision is recommended for minor children. . . . PWCs should not be in use where other water enthusiasts are swimming or wading.” Or boating, many of my fellow boaters would add.

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The Legislature is getting on board to control the bugs. The lawmakers are prodded by scary state statistics: PWCs account for just 16% of all recreational vessels in California, but last year were involved in 55% of the reported injury accidents.

“Jet skis” are accident-prone because they’re made for hot-dogging. They’re about 10 feet long, powered by big engines and can hit 60 mph. The cute tricks: “Wake jumping” behind motorboats (and sometimes whacking them), doing “doughnuts” (360-degree turns), “spraying down” people by swerving (or smacking them) and playing chicken.

On Friday, the Assembly passed a bill by Sen. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) to ban several reckless acts, including wake jumping within 100 feet of a boat, and spraying down. The measure is headed to Gov. Pete Wilson, who vetoed similar legislation last year on grounds the misdemeanor penalty was excessive. This time, the penalty has been reduced to an infraction--like a traffic fine--in hopes of winning Wilson’s signature.

Another bill, by Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), was approved last Monday by an Assembly committee, but only after it was watered down to appease rental concessionaires and boat clubs. Deleted was a safety training requirement for all PWC and motorboat drivers under age 21.

For any craft powered by a motor of more than 15 horsepower, the amended bill does raise the legal age from 12 to 16 for solo PWC and motorboat driving without an adult aboard. Kids under 12 couldn’t drive at all; currently they can with an adult.

PWC defenders use a familiar argument: “Jet skis” don’t maim, drivers maim.

Many GOP Assembly members oppose the Rosenthal bill, particularly those who enjoy “jet skiing” with their young children and handing them the controls.

“Parents should be allowed to parent,” says Assemblyman Jim Battin (R-La Quinta), who rides with his 10-year-old son. “Let me decide.”

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Mark Denny of Santa Ana, an official with the International Jet Sports Boating Assn., says his group supports both bills, and is “tremendously disappointed” that the safety course requirement was killed. “People have this Neanderthal view that the water is a place where there should be no laws.”

“I’m concerned about the reckless bad apples who are unfairly defining my sport,” says Denny. “There’s nothing worse than seeing a boat go by and two PWCs following like a couple of gnats jumping the wake.”

“Jet skiers” often ignore even current laws. Too many are inexperienced and ignorant of basic boating--little things like understanding that a PWC is not a heat-seeking missile meant to lock onto a motorboat, and that it doesn’t come with brakes.

If the brazenly bad bugs don’t start behaving, government should take after them with a big fly swatter.