Pre-incident:

V1, a rental jet ski was involved in a collision with channel marker number 7 on the south side of Clearwater Memorial Causeway. Operator was given a boating safety course at Clearwater Beach Jet Ski Rentals, which allowed him to obtain the required boater education temporary certificate. He and his passenger began a tour of the area from the rental location on the PWC they had just rented. Operator and passenger were taken on the jet ski tour by an employee of the business. 

Incident:

Shortly after passing under the small bridge adjacent to the business, they passed through the slow speed zone. At this point, they were apparently told to speed up and catch up with the tour operator. The inexperienced PWC operator was having trouble steering his vessel and while approaching channel marker number 7 on the south side of Clearwater Memorial Causeway, he hit the marker head on at a rate of speed of approximately 30-40 MPH. The two occupants were ejected from the jet ski, causing the male occupant operating the PWC to strike the marker and the female passenger to be ejected into the water. 

Post-incident:

Both occupants were wearing personal flotation devices at the time they entered the water and were subsequently brought back to the jet ski rental location, along with the damaged PWC. 

Conclusion/Violation:

The male subject was given a citation for the careless operation of the PWC because he failed to operate his vessel in a reasonable and prudent manner. Contributing factors to the incident were operator inexperience and possible off-throttle steering, which led to the operator losing control of his PWC, subsequently colliding with the channel marker. ; operator:Subject was operating the rented jet ski with passenger on the back seat behind him when he lost control of the jet ski and hit a channel marker head on at about 30-40 MPH. operator was ejected from the jet ski and hit the marker, injuring his left shoulder and neck area. Occupant:Subject was riding on the back of the PWC when their rented jet ski struck a channel marker going 30-40 MPH. Both subjects were ejected from the PWC and occupant received several minor lacerations to the inside of her left thigh.
CLEARWATER