Jetski fatality runs counter to improving safety record

By PAUL YANDALL

Sunday's death of a jetskier is the sixth such fatality since 1997 but authorities say the number of incidents involving the craft is declining.

Christopher Charles Groves, a 20-year-old of Glendene, West Auckland, died after being struck by a jetski on Sunday.

He was hit in the head after falling from his stand-up 750cc Kawasaki while trying to round a buoy about 300m from a boat ramp.

His friend was following in a sit-down 750cc Kawasaki about 5m behind Mr Groves and could not turn in time to avoid him.

The pair were racing one another at the time.

A spokesman for the Maritime Safety Authority, Lindsay Sturt, said the accident was tragic but the number of incidents involving jetskis had declined since the first death in New Zealand in 1997.

"People are a lot more aware of the dangers involved and how to operate the Machines safely. We're seeing a lot more information out there about the safety issues."

Both the authority and the police have launched investigations.

The incident is the sixth fatal accident in New Zealand involving jetskis.

Auckland Regional Council bylaws require that riders wear lifejackets and be at least 50m apart if travelling faster than 5 knots.

Sergeant Martin Paget of the Police Maritime Unit said it was too early to confirm whether the men had lifejackets on as several witnesses to the incident had yet to be spoken to.

He said it was not clear whether wearing a lifejacket would have saved Mr Groves' life, given the nature of the accident.

Police were still trying to determine exactly how far apart the men's jetskis were before the collision and how fast they were going when they were racing. Jetskis can reach speeds of up to 50 knots.

He said jetskiers "constantly flouted" the 50m separation bylaw.

"When you have personal watercraft that can travel at real speed then you have to maintain good distances from other people, other craft, and the land, for safety reasons."

It was too early to say whether charges would be laid in connection with the death.

The first fatality, in 1997, occurred when 17-year-old student Shaema Abood's kayak was struck by one of the craft in Porirua Harbour.

Former world BMX champion Errol Nelson, aged 52, died in January 1998, after a jetski ploughed into his runabout in Whitianga. Paeroa farmer Jonathon Hare was convicted of manslaughter and served six months of an 18-month sentence for the accident.

Sixteen-year-old student Lisa Pursey died in Christchurch in December 1998, when the jetski she was riding collided with another.

Two other fatal accidents involving jetskis, both in 1998, have been recorded: one where a rider fell off and drowned and another where a passenger being towed by one hit an outflow pipe and died.

Millionaire Alan Gibbs was fined $3000 after pleading guilty to driving a jetski dangerously near the Cavalli Islands off Whangaroa in January last year.

Two people were injured when he lost control of his jetski and hit a dinghy.