Skiboat driver fined for reckless driving
A fallen wakeboarder suffered what could fairly be described as horrific injuries when he was run over by another boat on the Murray River at Moama on January 23, 2010. The 25-year old wakeboarder was in the water, with his right arm in the air, when a skiboat driven by a 21-year old Victorian made a U-turn, “without looking”, the magistrate said later.
The man was struck by the boat’s keel and propeller, leaving him with serious leg and foot injuries, a tibia broken in three places, a dislocated left shoulder and 50 per cent of the muscle gouged from his right calf. That would have hurt.
The man driving the boat later faced Moama Local Court over the incident and was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm. He was fined more than $4500 and given a three-year good behaviour bond. NSW Maritime chief executive Steve Dunn stated the obvious by saying that “the incident highlighted the dangers of tow sports like waterskiing, especially in narrow waterways”
Here’s a sobering thought anyway. According to people who measure such things, a typical three-blade prop spinning at 3200rpm can gouge soft tissue 160 times in a second and travel from your head to your feet in less than one tenth of a second. That would hurt too.