operator of Unit #1, was cruising eastbound (upstream) on the Kankakee river in between Grape and Bardwell islands.  She said she turned sharply to the right to avoid a partially submerged object in the water and then tried to turn back left to avoid the shoreline of the north side of Bardwell Island.   She said that she could not turn sharply enough back to the left to avoid the shore and struck the shore.  She and the passenger were ejected over the front of the PWC. I asked Operator if she remembered if she let off the throttle when she tried to turn back to the left and she stated that everything happened so fast that she could not remember. Passenger suffered only minor cuts and scrapes, but Operator suffered a severe laceration laterally across her left knee.  I believe this injury was sustained at impact when her left knee hit the dash area of the PWC.  When I showed the pictures of the PWC to the attending emergency room doctor, she agreed with me as to the cause of the injury.  I questioned the doctor about the lack of blood on the PWC and she said that it is common that with the type of laceration that Operator suffered, there is often times little to no bleeding.  Both Operator and Passenger stated that there was no bleeding on the scene.

As well as the loss of control due to off throttle steering, I believe another cause of the accident is that Operator was probably operating too close to the shoreline of Bardwell Island.  There is approximately 275 feet in between Grape Island and Bardwell Island, and if Operator was operating more to the center of the channel in between the islands, then even if of throttle, the PWC probably would have slowed down enough, after the initial avoidance manuver, that it would not have struck the shore of Bardwell Island, or at least, not hard enough to cause the damage and injuries that were sustained.

Wilmington                    