The Inevitable Has Occurred

Published June 26, 2020 | By admin

Lake Safety Committee
By: Bruce C. Bower

It was not if but when! There was a jet-ski accident involving two jet-skis. One reportedly cut in front of the other, they hit and one person was thrown off the ski, resulting in a broken jaw. A pontoon came by pulled the person out, took her to the marina where she was life-flighted to the hospital. I will not write about any of the details, it’s enough to know that someone got hurt for what appears to be NO good reason. There appears to be a serious constant problem with careless and reckless operation of these skis. Your Board is working to get this under control.

I have moaned about people with VERY young children on their jet skis in the last article. Well I saw the ultimate champ of ultimate careless and non-thinking parents on 6/24 in the early evening. He has a black and red ski and had two little blond girls in front of him on a two person ski. He was not bashful or careful about his driving with his two precious passengers. I would guess one little girl was under 4 and the other one was under 2 years of age. He wasn’t taking it easy on speed, was doing S turns to, I presume, give the little ones a thrill. He topped off his fatherly entertainment for the night by doing several donuts just at the entrance to his cove. I won’t preach any more, I’ve seen the worst and told you about it. Maybe the other parent can try to speak sense to these people, who the ODNR says is uncommon. And I’ll add unique to our Lake! If anyone can help me understand this deranged practice, call me, help me!

As I mentioned last time, I called ODNR Columbus and asked what was happening with the possible law to limit this activity. Here is what I got back: “there are no current proposals to set a minimum age or size for a passenger on a personal watercraft. The situation you describe is fairly uncommon so a law change would likely not be supported”.

As always, call me if questions or comments. Bower out 216.906.2301