Children as Riders and/or Operators of PWC
  
The Coalition
recommends children under 16 not ride or operate PWC. The American
Academy of Pediatrics has clearly stated children under 16 should not
operate PWC. Even the manufacturers declare it is a mistake to allow
children under 16 to operate the craft. Yet many people continue to
buy or rent them and make them available to children.
The following article, reprinted by permission,
explains why we are adamant that young children should also not be
passengers on PWC.
JET-POWERED WATERCRAFT LINKED TO
SERIOUS INJURIES TO CHILDREN
July 12,
2002
Contact
Information
GAINESVILLE, Fla.
--- Turning on a dime and reaching speeds up to 65 miles an hour,
jet-powered personal watercraft can make the traditional motorboat look
downright dull, especially to kids seeking summertime thrills.
But University of
Florida medical experts warn that children are more likely to be seriously
injured in accidents involving personal watercraft, or jet skis, than in
accidents with small motorboats.
"The same factors
that make personal watercraft fun make them dangerous," said Dr. Elizabeth Beierle a UF
pediatric surgeon who led a review of accidents involving each type of
craft. "They're small, they go fast, and they're open. In an
accident, there's very little to prevent riders from being thrown off, and
we believe that's why we see more serious injuries with them."
UF researchers
examined 15 accident cases treated at Shands at UF medical center from
1992 to 2000 involving patients 6 to 19 years old who were aboard personal
watercraft or motorboats less than 20 feet in length. Several types of
serious injury were found only in personal watercraft cases, including
closed-head trauma, spinal injuries, and trauma to the chest and
abdomen.
Surgery was
required in 75 percent of the accidents involving personal watercraft
compared to 43 percent of the boat cases, she said. The UF research
findings were published in the June issue of the journal The American
Surgeon.
"Most of the
accidents involved collisions with other vehicles or fixed objects, such
as docks or stumps," Beierle said. "The difference was boat passengers
tended to remain inside the boat and contact its interior surfaces.
Personal watercraft riders often became airborne and contacted whatever
was in their path."
The UF study was
the first of its type focused exclusively on children, Beierle
said.
While nationwide
statistics collected by the U.S. Coast Guard on victims of all ages showed
that personal watercraft and open motorboat accidents generated nearly
equal rates - about 17 percent - of head, neck, spinal and internal
injuries in 2000, fatality rates for personal watercraft accidents far
exceeded those for motorboats. Personal watercraft accidents caused 68
fatalities in the United States in 2000 compared to 361 from motorboat
accidents, according to the Coast Guard, but slightly more than 500,000
personal watercraft were in use compared to 8 million outboard
motorboats.
In 2000, Florida
had the third-largest number of registered vessels in the nation with more
than 840,000, including more than 105,000 personal watercraft, according
to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Florida also led
the nation in boating accidents in 2000 with more than 1,200.
But there is good
news, said Capt. Richard Moore, boating law administrator for the
commission. Personal watercraft accidents and injuries reported in Florida
have declined about 40 percent from 1995 to 2001. Coast Guard statistics
show a 20 percent decline nationally in personal watercraft accidents from
1997 to 2000 and a 15 percent decline in injuries.
"We're still not
where we want to be, but personal watercraft users are making a greater
effort to practice good safety habits," he said.
In Florida, the
minimum age to operate a personal watercraft is 14, and Beierle said youth
is a factor in many accidents involving them.
"Kids that age
don't necessarily have the cognitive ability to make split-second
decisions in an emergency, and they may not have the coordination to use
the controls precisely," she said. "We're also concerned that children
younger than 14 are sometimes allowed to operate the vehicles, which
happened with two patients in our study."
Moore said safe
personal watercraft operation is more than a matter of age.
"Some of these
vehicles can go 65 miles per hour, and there are many adults who aren't
ready for that responsibility," he said. "Our statistics indicate that
there's no disparity in the occurrence of injuries to kids versus
adults."
The extreme
maneuverability of personal watercraft tempts operators to make sudden
turns or ride in circles, which can create unexpected hazards for others
or leave operators disoriented, he said.
"If you're in the
middle of a lake alone, that's one thing, but if there are other craft or
bathers or fixed objects nearby, it's just wrong to do this," he
said.
For more
information contact:
Tom Nordlie, 352/392-2755, tnordlie@vpha.health.ufl.edu
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