AB From Windsor

I couldn't agree with you anymore, these Jet Ski's have to be more careful and respectful when operating their craft. A bigger boat is not going to lose if there is an accident and no one wants to see or be involved in an accident. The actions of this guy make me sick as there isn't to much you can do about it but I only wished that you could have got his Registration Numbers and called the Police and Coast Guard to report him.

AB From Windsor

I haven't read anything in our local Newspaper or seen anything on our local T.V. News Stations other then, they are asking anyone who may have witnessed this accident to call local Authorities. Sad for all involved.

scope1407

There is a comment about this story after one of the online articles. Some lady says, "The guy on the boat should be locked up for life", which pisses me off. Although it is very sad that a young guy died like this, it is most likely not the fault of the boat driver. The article also said this happened around 8:30pm, and I believe jet skis are prohibited from being out after sunset.

I almost wish a safety course was required to operate jet skis, any idiot with a couple grand can purchase one and be out on the water right after.

At the LSC fun run last weekend, I had two of them zigzaging back and forth in front of me in the middle channel as I was running 55 mph and trying to pass a cruiser! They looked like they were teenagers...

BlueOval

I call them water bugs, you never know what they are doing. Very sad, they scare the heck out of me darting in and out.

h2oboater

[ The article also said this happened around 8:30pm, and I believe jet skis are prohibited from being out after sunset.]
[I almost wish a safety course was required to operate jet skis, any idiot with a couple grand can purchase one and be out on the water right after.]



In Michigan those who are at least 16 years of age and born after December 31, 1978, may operate a PWC legally only if they have obtained a boating safety certificate.
Only those born on or before December 31, 1978, may operate a PWC legally without restrictions..
Also in Michigan It is illegal to operate a PWC during the period that begins at sunset and ends at 8:00 a.m. “Sunset” means that time determined by the national weather service.

bigfarmer

Its sad to have lost someone to an accident like this but to be honest I'm surprised it took this long to happen and there haven't been more of them. All these parents who buy their kid a 20,000 dollar-70plus mph jet-ski need to give their head a shake. I boat in the same waters as this happened and I can tell you first hand how many close calls I've had with jet skis. Every time I go out one is either trying to race me or is criss crossing my wake not paying attention to what is going on around them. I hope people don't get a bad taste in their mouth about power boats and think they are the culprit causing accidents. In my opinion the age restriction on these things should be higher, or limited to HP. Maybe this will be an eye opener for some people. My heart goes out to the Austin family and they have my condolences.

northerndoc

A tragedy to be sure- but I've had several experiences with them like you describe. Unfortunately, most of the people I encounter on them think they're in an amusement park or something and ride accordingly... with no regard for anyone else on the lake. It would be horrible to be involved in an accident like this, but the sad fact is that most of the people injured on PWC's put themselves into the situation- not the other way around.

Ran-Dom 32

I agree 100% - same thing happens on LSC daily

bigfarmer

Exactly! The driver of the Boat Didn't do a damn thing wrong! And then you have people who don't know any of the details saying (mentioned in an earlier post) that the driver should be locked up! That lady needs her mouth slapped for even thinking that let alone writing it on the net. Things could have been worse, the boat could have lost control if taken extreme maneuvers. Kudos for how the boat handled things, Livingston channel gets crazy at times! Then what 4 or 5 more people injured because of a reckless sea doo driver.??? I won't hesitate to report some of these kids that are driving like a bunch of Donkeys! We all have too much invested in our boats to let these sea doo'ers wreck it for us and attract the attention of police, sherrif and coast guard. Its bad enough these days to go out and not get hassled, we don't need any more excuses for them to come out and give us a hard time. But this is just my opinion...

Stinger390X

I have noticed the same thing...

I boat near Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario. There is a beautiful beach there and lots of people boat and swim there.
Ona good day there will be a thousand swimmers and fifty or more boats anchored at the beach and these idiots on PWC come flying in at 70mph into the group. Lots of heads bobbing around and sun shining and its amazing no one has been decapitated yet?

I yelled at a couple of them as we were rafted up in a group of six and of course you know what that is like when a huge wake happens in calm waters.

I told them they had 400 square miles of lake to do that, why did they feel the need to do it so close to shore where all the people were.



Their answer...middle finger!