Ante Goes Up on Water Scooters

The affluent young with their Wave Runners, Jet Skis and Yamaha water scooters are getting a huge surprise when they launch out to sea at places like Dana Point Harbor.

Sorry, dude, you’re too young. The laws have changed.

“We try to catch them on the ramp before they even make it into the water,” said Sgt. J.R. Wilson of the sheriff’s Harbor Patrol. “In many cases, their parents bought them these personal watercraft unaware they were too young to operate them.”

A lot of people on personal watercraft are getting surprised this year.

The Legislature for years has been sidestepping the growing safety problem among operators of these small water vehicles. But in 1997, a few steps were finally taken to get them under control. For starters, there is now a minimum age.

Before, anyone 12 and older could operate one. And anyone younger than 12 could operate one with an adult along.

Now, 12- to 15-year-olds are banned from riding them without an adult present. And nobody younger than 12 may operate one, no matter how responsible the adult with the youngster claims to be.

“Most of these kids don’t know it’s now the law, so if we spot them on the water, we just send them in without citing them,” the sergeant said. “The exception is if we warn them and then see them out there again.”

But there’s a whole group of personal watercraft operators who are not getting warnings: adults who operate them with gleeful recklessness.

That’s another problem the Legislature has finally addressed.

Before, no one had ever really defined what “reckless” amounted to. You would think anyone would know it’s dangerous to turn one of those things on its side at high speed and “spray down” your buddy on his nearby sailboat. Or to jump a wave near enough to another boat that you might hit it. But law enforcement could only frown that these idiots should know better.

Now, the Legislature has actually defined such behavior as reckless.

“A lot of people we stop say they had no idea you couldn’t spray down any more,” Wilson of the Harbor Patrol said. “We don’t accept that from adults; we usually go ahead and give them a ticket, plus a copy of the new safe-boating regulations.”

These little boats seem almost built for hot-dogging. But statistics show it’s just too dangerous. Nationally, there were 2,500 personal watercraft accidents last year. In Orange County, Wilson said, personal watercraft make up 50% of the boating accidents, even though they account for just 13% of all boats in operation.

“We really hope the new laws will cut those numbers down,” he said. “Let’s face it, you get something over 100 horsepower, a 13- or 14-year-old kid just isn’t going to know how to handle it properly.”

The legislative changes have been hailed by responsible personal watercraft operators, like those with the International Jet Sport Boating Assn., based in Santa Ana. But its director, Mark Denny, and many others say the Legislature hasn’t gone far enough.

It was Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) who got the bill passed limiting solo rides to those 16 and older. But to get it passed, Rosenthal had to take out of his bill a key provision that would have required training for anyone who wants to operate one on the water. That puts California well behind more than half the states, which require some training first. Connecticut, for example, requires personal watercraft operators to take a 10-hour course.

Dan Flynn, a member of Rosenthal’s staff, is convinced the California Legislature will be faced with serious pressure for more personal watercraft controls next year. He’s been sitting in on an advisory committee to the state’s Department of Boating and Water Safety, which is taking a look at a number of recommendations for all types of boating.

“It looks like the committee is going to recommend that all boaters in California be required to take some kind of training,” Flynn said. “Such a recommendation would have a long legislative road ahead of it, but that’s the direction we need to go.”

Denny of the jet sport operators group said he’s delighted to hear that the Harbor Patrol is going after the reckless operators. What he’s not happy about is any publicity on the issue that doesn’t include the other side--that thousands of water enthusiasts enjoy the sport, and do operate safely.

“It’s a fun, safe, exciting way for a lot of people to get into boating without having to spend big dollars,” he said. “But we have our few bad apples like any other sport.”

Personal watercraft now make up one-third of all new-boat sales, Denny said. The watercraft can seat one to three people, depending on the size you want, and range in price from $3,500 to $10,000.

This week I stopped in at a boat dealership in Newport Beach that had row after row of personal watercraft in a variety of splendid colors. A man and woman had their young daughter, who appeared to be about 6 or 7, trying out one.

“Is the seat comfortable for you?” the father asked as she tried out the handlebars.

She nodded with enthusiasm that it was. Someone walked up and asked jokingly if she was big enough to handle something that powerful.

“She sure did last weekend,” the proud father said.

If she does, her parents had better hope the Harbor Patrol isn’t close by.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com