Personal Watercraft Incident Court Decisions: The Plaintiff’s Odds?

A personal watercraft (PWC) is a vessel that uses an inboard motor powering a water jet pump as a source of power and is operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling. Maneuvering a PWC is different from operating a motor vehicle or boat. An obstacle cannot be avoided by slowing down and turni...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 13; no. 9; p. 5096
Main Authors Choi, Eui-Yul, Cho, Woo Jeong
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.05.2021
Subjects
Aircraft accidents & safety
Boating accidents & safety
Boats
Casualties
Content analysis
Court decisions
Fatalities
Hydraulic jets
Injuries
Maneuvers
National security
Personal watercraft
Risk factors
Statistical analysis
Statistics
Success
Sustainability
Throttles
Water vehicles
United States > US
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Summary:A personal watercraft (PWC) is a vessel that uses an inboard motor powering a water jet pump as a source of power and is operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling. Maneuvering a PWC is different from operating a motor vehicle or boat. An obstacle cannot be avoided by slowing down and turning the watercraft; throttle power is required to turn or maneuver the PWC. The watercraft stops only by drifting or turning sharply. The study examined sixty court decisions published in LexisNexis databases of the United States over the last decade. Cases included individuals injured while operating a PWC as a driver, passenger, or as a result of contact with a watercraft. A content analysis identified items to be used in the study. Crosstab and logistic regression analyses were used to identify demographic information and the characteristics of those who succeeded in a court of law. One-third of the cases were successful; adults, males, and the party who sustained a severe injury were more successful in a court of law with the exception of the statistically significant factors (high risk maneuvers and sharp turns). Among the additional results, we should be aware that insurance companies may not pay; additionally, it is unwise to loan a PWC to a female who has no experience.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su13095096