Many people who operate boats are relatively inexperienced. This is especially true with recreational boats and personal watercraft, like jet skis. Often, these operators do not own the watercraft at all—they are just tourists or visitors who have rented them for the day to have fun on the water.
Unfortunately, this inexperience can lead to accidents and serious injuries. Many new boaters think of boats like cars, but they are vastly different. It’s important to know how to operate them safely, especially in a crowded marina or around people who are swimming.
There aren’t any brakes
One of the biggest mistakes new boaters make is approaching a dock or another obstacle the same way they would in a car. They assume they can stop when they arrive, just as they would by pressing the brakes in a car when pulling up to a parking lot, stop sign or red light.
But boats don’t have brakes, and they require a significantly longer distance to stop. There’s no way to stop quickly in an emergency. The best way to slow down is to reduce speed well in advance. This causes the back end of the boat to drop while the front end rises, and the force of the water naturally slows the boat down. For larger craft, the main tactic is often to reverse the engines, but this also takes time. A boat should always slow down gradually, rather than attempting to stop abruptly when approaching a dock.
However, inexperienced operators often treat boats like cars, leading to collisions with docks, rafts, other watercraft, rocks, swimmers and many other obstacles. These accidents can cause severe injuries to multiple parties, and victims need to understand what legal steps they can take to seek appropriate compensation.