
DATE: Saturday, July 19, 1997               TAG: 9707190239

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  112 lines

WATER SCOOTER INJURIES PROMPT STUDY ACCIDENTS HAVE DOUBLED FROM LAST YEAR

The city's police marine patrol unit has had to scramble to investigate about 15 accidents involving water scooters so far this year, and there appears to be no end in sight.

There have been no fatalities, says Sgt. Frank Genova, who heads the unit, but there have been some close calls with the craft, commonly referred to by the trade name Jet Ski.

For instance, on Friday, July 11, between 31st and 33rd streets at the Oceanfront, a riderless water scooter ran amok in the surf, striking two teen-agers, a 3-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, who were playing on the beach. None of the youngsters was seriously injured, police said.

A week earlier, a 41-year-old Virginia Beach man suffered serious head injuries when he was thrown against the handlebars of a water scooter as he was jumping waves in Chesapeake Bay waters near the entrance to the Lynnhaven Inlet. He was kept afloat by the driver of a passing water scooter until police and paramedics arrived.

The two incidents are among about 15 reported by owners or operators since the first of the year, Genova said - double the number recorded in 1996.

Despite the mounting instances of water scooter accidents and concerns expressed by local lifeguard, emergency service and police officials, there has been no action taken by the City Council to tighten strictures on the use of the recreational water craft.

There may a move in that direction, however. City staff members are gathering data on water scooter incidents, said C. Oral Lambert, deputy city manager.

``Whether or not that will translate into additional restrictions or regulations hasn't been determined yet,'' he said. ``It's a definite problem - not only here, but across the country.''

Water scooters are proliferating on waterways throughout the state and pose an increasing danger to bathers, boaters and other water scooter operators.

``The record speaks for itself,'' says R.L. Kent Hinnant, who heads the Virginia Beach Life Saving Service, which provides lifeguards along the city's resort beaches. ``I don't think the problem is who is operating them (water scooters) but where they're being operated. On a regular basis, we're called on to help out in emergencies - to pull equipment out of the water or pull people out of the water.''

``We're averaging at least one incident a week,'' said Ed Brazzle, division chief for the city's Emergency Services Department. ``There have been no fatalities this year, but we've had some serious injuries - including a near foot amputation and a broken leg.''

Data released by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries reveals that there are more water scooters on state waterways, and they're causing more accidents.

By June 30 this year, 15,814 water scooters had been registered by the state - a 12 percent increase over the 14,086 registered for all of 1996.

Between 1994 and 1996, the number of registrations for water scooters virtually doubled throughout the state, said Charlie Sledd, boating and resource education manager for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Last year, Sledd's department fielded 207 boating accident reports statewide. Seventy-four of them involved water scooters. So far this year, the state has recorded 34 boating accidents, with six involving water scooters.

The 1997 figures may not square with Genova's Virginia Beach accident totals, but the state agency only records accidents investigated by local law enforcement agencies, Sledd said. While most boating accidents are reported to Virginia Beach police, Genova said, not all of them are investigated. As a result, the information isn't forwarded to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

``If you look at the last three or four years, personal watercraft account for about 6 percent of the total number of boat registrations,'' Sledd noted, ``but they're involved in over 33 percent of the boating accidents across the state.''

Inexperience, not alcohol, is the biggest factor in causing most local water scooter accidents, said Genova, whose eight-member squad covers the 79 miles of ocean and inland waterfront in Virginia Beach.

``The biggest problem is lack of education,'' he contends. ``They (operators) need to take a course like the ones given by the U.S. Power Squadron or the Coast Guard Auxiliary. The big thing is learning the rules. They just don't know the ways of the water.''

Such courses are not required by law for dealers who sell personal watercraft or for buyers, Sledd said. N Water scooter rental operators and their customers also are not required to undergo instruction. Most of the state's 52 water scooter dealerships do voluntarily provide 30-minute instructional videos to customers, he added.

Nearly eight years ago, the Virginia legislature, responding to complaints throughout the state, passed a law restricting the operations of personal watercraft. It did not, however, address licensing or testing of prospective operators. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot

Water scooter riders head north past surfers at the Virginia Beach

Oceanfront. Tighter rules on use of the craft are being considered.

Photo

C. Oral Lambert

Deputy city manager

Graphic

VIRGINIA BEACH: DANGER ON THE WATER MAJOR CAUSE: Inexperience causes

the most water scooter accidents. Neither the dealer nor the

consumer is required to give or take instruction courses.

CURRENT LAW: The law restricts the operation of the craft, but does

not govern the licensing or testing of prospective operators.

A DISTURBING TREND