c economist sun stouffvilfe tribune saturday july 31 1999 3 are the new boating regulations sinking in bydawnliersch staffwriter- ews that a nineyearold girl was seriously injured while driving a jet ski on six mile lake in midland has left local boaters fearing the provinces tough new boating laws are being ignored v the accident in which ajetski carrying the girl arid a 14yearold passenger collided with another personal watercraft driven by a 14 year old has left many boaters shaking their heads under the new boating laws implemented in april none of the youths should have been clriving the powerful water toys as of april 1 anyone 16 and younger is banned frofn operating personal watercraft pwc such as jet skis and seadops v l- newmarkets wayne sparks hopes this latest accident will be the last that was sad what happened to that girl i hope it will make people think twice he said the best thing they ever did was to make that law there are so many boats out there t so rniich traffic and theyre too highly powered for small children the new laws were implemented after years of lobbying from thepiiblicv york regional police had acknowledged that the pwcs had become a problem on lake simcoe and kettle lakes in the area because they are extremely fast travelling up to 120 kmh and can operate close to shore i there were 6000 pwc accidents and 200 deaths in canada last year with 47 of those fatalities occurring in- ontario r while there have been no reports of children being involved in a pwc accident locally a 25yearold thornhill woman was killed on lake couchiching in 1997 but const steve mccullogh of the york regional police marine unit said the new rules seem to be sinking in generally speaking they seem to be working i think people are paying attention to them he said in past years it was a regular occurrence to see kids from eightyearsold and up riding pwcs definitely peo ple are aware of the changes and are respecting them even the fines shoiddbehienlfa person gets a 1000 or 2obofine then theyll thinlfivice about it said one boatek if somebody dies 245 doesnt v seem like much of a penalty though theyre so new mccullogh said that may be because it was the public which demanded new laws m me first place he also stressed police will be cracking down on offenders the public has demanded that we do something he said r its such a high priority and the best way of publicizing it is if we lay a charge the word will travel frorricbttage to cottage s tinder the newlaws pwc usersqlderthan 16 must complete a competency test by sept 15 2002 those younger caught riding can be fined between 125 and 245 although children younger than i2cannpt be charged with an offence in canadapolice can fine parents aridor the owner of the pwc no charges have been laid in the midland accident but an opp officer said the incident is still being investigated despite the police warnings don cordingley of- 1 georgina doesnt expect the laws will make a huge differr ence v im tired of laws that we dont enforce he said theres no point you can make the laws but people will just do what they want to anyway although gerhard brinks of georgina supports the new laws he doesnt think theyre strict enough the fines should be higher if a person gets a 1 000 or 2000 fine then theyll think twice about it he said if somebody dies 245 doesnt seem like much of a penalty even though harris welmari 14 is now too young to drive a pwc he supports the new laws the teen said a lot of young people arent capable of controlling the machines sixteen is a good age just like with a car these are more dangerous than driving a car sometimes he said but there areomppppn biubermeftsaidmenewriilesd young people arguing all pwc riders shouldnt be lurriped together ive seen some older people being irresponsible ats not the age that matted its mepeople he said i trust my daughter with it riding a pwc because ive taught her right from wrong weve taught her to go slow arid watch for swimmers if she acts up well take it away fromher y y 1 but brinks argued not all parents are as responsible r adding he has seen plenty of shenanigans put on the water i involving both young and old drivers people dont treat pwcs as a boat they treat them as a toy kids see their parents doing things arid they do them themselves he said i know adults can be out there doing the same thing at least when youre 40 youre responsible for your actions when youre nine youre not- y- other violations now being regulated include 7 careless operation resulting in a 245 fine or a more serious charge uriderthe criminal code p water skiing or tubing without providing an additional seat in the boat resulting in a 125 fine operating a boat within five miles of shore without a noise abate ment device 125 fine starting a gasoline engine before using a space blower for at least fourmjnutes 125fihe v q refuelling a boat with occupants on board or while the engine is still running 125 fine other regulations are being phased in over 10 years photo of boaters on musselmans lake by sj0erd witteveen