WARNING *** Dangers of rectal injury? ****
dingking
female client damaged her vagina and rectum after falling off a Yamaha
ski. She has had 15 surgeries so far. Yamaha knew of the problem from the
thrust and has done nothing to keep idiots from sticking things where they
don't belong.
He claims there are now warning stickers on skis concerning this. I've
never seen one. Have you?
Has anyone heard of this problem? I've been riding 8 years and I never
heard anything like it.
Rick
--
Sincerely
Rick
Solas1420
Idakrules
Always good for a chuckle or two.
Bob
David B. Thomas
injury to orafices and such.
Dave
dingking wrote:
--
David B. Thomas (jets...@bellsouth.net)
Blew-By-You Personal Watercraft Services
11605 Hwy 19 Norwood, LA 70761
(225) 629-5621
Harry Krause
Female PWC'ers, obviously, should leave their orifices at home.
--
Harry Krause
- - - - - - - - - - - -
A brilYunt mind DiZtroyed by da publik edukshun sistum.
jetski junkies
>
> I attended a law seminar tonight and the speaker showed a video of how his
> female client damaged her vagina and rectum after falling off a Yamaha
> ski. She has had 15 surgeries so far. Yamaha knew of the problem from the
> thrust and has done nothing to keep idiots from sticking things where they
> don't belong.
>
> He claims there are now warning stickers on skis concerning this. I've
> never seen one. Have you?
>
> Has anyone heard of this problem? I've been riding 8 years and I never
> heard anything like it.
>
> Rick
>
> --
> Sincerely
> Rick
My first time on a ski(550) I fell of coarse. Well the first time I
tried to remount, I gassed it while hanging off the back. Well I talk 4
octives higher now then before. 94 or 95 was the first time I saw a
warning sticker on a ski. I think it was a Kawi that had it.
Perry
W.S. O'Neal
Now don't all you Yamaha guys get offended, it was just a joke.
Bill O'Neal
WCM
--
Bill @ E-MAIL: Water...@worldnet.att.net
jetski junkies wrote in message <36B85E...@NOSPAM.ix.netcom.com>...
X*2 & XPL Fan (Dennis Copfer)
>dingking wrote:
>>
>> I attended a law seminar tonight and the speaker showed a video of how his
>> female client damaged her vagina and rectum after falling off a Yamaha
>> ski. She has had 15 surgeries so far. Yamaha knew of the problem from the
>> thrust and has done nothing to keep idiots from sticking things where they
>> don't belong.
>>
>> He claims there are now warning stickers on skis concerning this. I've
>> never seen one. Have you?
>>
>> Has anyone heard of this problem? I've been riding 8 years and I never
>> heard anything like it.
>>
>> Rick
>>
>> --
>> Sincerely
>> Rick
>
>
>My first time on a ski(550) I fell of coarse. Well the first time I
>tried to remount, I gassed it while hanging off the back. Well I talk 4
>octives higher now then before. 94 or 95 was the first time I saw a
>warning sticker on a ski. I think it was a Kawi that had it.
>
>Perry
Our '92 Kaw has the orifice warning......a lot more people now know
what that means due to Jay Leno's references to the oval orifice.
Something else I guess we should thank Bill Clinton for....NOT.
dc
Freestyle Forever!
Brian Miller
the storage compartment between the seat and the handle bars, and I'm pretty
sure there's another one somewhere on the boat, possibly above the fuel
filler.
-Brian
TTavler
W.S. O'Neal
have said:
"Only A**holes and Pussies" :)
Don't shoot the messenger !
Bill O'Neal
WCM
--
Bill @ E-MAIL: Water...@worldnet.att.net
W.S. O'Neal wrote in message <799hvj$p...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...
>Moral : Only A**holes ride Yamaha's ? :)
>
>Now don't all you Yamaha guys get offended, it was just a joke.
>
>Bill O'Neal
>WCM
>
>--
>Bill @ E-MAIL: Water...@worldnet.att.net
>jetski junkies wrote in message <36B85E...@NOSPAM.ix.netcom.com>...
S. Nathan Bond
On Wed, 3 Feb 1999, dingking wrote:
>
> He claims there are now warning stickers on skis concerning this. I've
> never seen one. Have you?
>
Stickers, and several warnings in the manual, recommending wet
suit bottoms be worn.
S. Nathan Bond DSET Corporation
Sales Engineer Richardson, Tx, USA
(972)690-7800 x127 nb...@dal.dset.com
Rexven
wrote:
>I attended a law seminar tonight and the speaker showed a video of how his
>female client damaged her vagina and rectum after falling off a Yamaha
>ski. She has had 15 surgeries so far. Yamaha knew of the problem from the
>thrust and has done nothing to keep idiots from sticking things where they
>don't belong.
>
>He claims there are now warning stickers on skis concerning this. I've
>never seen one. Have you?
Rick, not only is it common sense (a few hundred PSI of water directed
at any given point is bound to do some damage) but there have been
labels for many years on this issue. Just the same, people still get
poisoned at high-pressure auto washes for basically 'injecting' soap
and wax into their arms if they are not careful. Yep, they have
warning labels to!
Anyone else tired of the government trying to save us from ourselves?
Let Darwinism reign for a while!
Nate & Christie
:)
jetski junkies
>
> It has been brought to my attention that my statement was false. It should
> have said:
>
> "Only A**holes and Pussies" :)
>
> Don't shoot the messenger !
>
> Bill O'Neal
> WCM
>
> --
> Bill @ E-MAIL: Water...@worldnet.att.net
> W.S. O'Neal wrote in message <799hvj$p...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...
> >Moral : Only A**holes ride Yamaha's ? :)
> >
> >Now don't all you Yamaha guys get offended, it was just a joke.
> >
> >Bill O'Neal
> >WCM
> >
> >--
> >Bill @ E-MAIL: Water...@worldnet.att.net
> >jetski junkies wrote in message <36B85E...@NOSPAM.ix.netcom.com>...
> >>>
> >>> I attended a law seminar tonight and the speaker showed a video of how
> >his
> >>> female client damaged her vagina and rectum after falling off a Yamaha
> >>> ski. She has had 15 surgeries so far. Yamaha knew of the problem from
> the
> >>> thrust and has done nothing to keep idiots from sticking things where
> >they
> >>> don't belong.
> >>>
> >>> He claims there are now warning stickers on skis concerning this. I've
> >>> never seen one. Have you?
> >>>
> >>> heard anything like it.
> >>>
> >>> Rick
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Sincerely
> >>> Rick
> >>
> >>
> >>My first time on a ski(550) I fell of coarse. Well the first time I
> >>tried to remount, I gassed it while hanging off the back. Well I talk 4
> >>octives higher now then before. 94 or 95 was the first time I saw a
> >>warning sticker on a ski. I think it was a Kawi that had it.
> >>
> >>Perry
> >
> >
Well if SD only made a Stand-up I might be on one. Until then, my trusty
Superjet will have to Doo. Sorry, Make a stand-up!
Perry
Solas1420
Steve D.
Simon Wallace <sim...@zip.com.au> wrote in message
news:36b9f151...@news.remarq.com...
>My 98 Yamaha has the stickers... it tells me more than I ever wanted
>to know about body orifices.
>
>ding...@mindspring.com (dingking) wrote:
>
>>I attended a law seminar tonight and the speaker showed a video of how his
>>female client damaged her vagina and rectum after falling off a Yamaha
>>ski. She has had 15 surgeries so far. Yamaha knew of the problem from the
>>thrust and has done nothing to keep idiots from sticking things where they
>>don't belong.
>>
>>He claims there are now warning stickers on skis concerning this. I've
>>never seen one. Have you?
>>
>>Has anyone heard of this problem? I've been riding 8 years and I never
>>heard anything like it.
>>
>>Rick
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
>sim...@spammersdiezip.net.au
>Sydney
>Remove the antispam message to reply via e-mail.
>http://www.yamaha.com.au/marine/wb700a_model.html
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
Simon Wallace
JETSKInJOE
hurts...first time getting on my 440 i nearly wasnt able to have children
W.S. O'Neal
I would guess that certain members of this fourm (I won't mention any names,
I wouldn't want Snapper to get upset) could get a pwc into their orfice
fairly easily, god knows enough crap comes out of it ! :)
Why were you tring to have childern with a 440 ? Does the 440 emit little
110's after a few months ? Do the 110's grow up to be 550's ?
Bill O'Neal
WCM
--
Bill @ E-MAIL: Water...@worldnet.att.net
JETSKInJOE wrote in message
<19990204003133...@ng-cr1.aol.com>...
hkrause
I wouldn't be surprised if the incidence of spinal and other serious
injuries from "jumping" PWC's at high speeds over large wakes and waves
is much, much higher than most expect and probably under-reported.
When you think through the physics involved and the different ways you
can injure your spinal column, you'll have a clearer understanding of
the possibilities of mishaps.
--
Harry Krause
- - - - - - - - - - - -
I tried to contain myself....but I escaped.
Boatbasin
>injuries from "jumping" PWC's at high speeds over large wakes and waves
>is much, much higher than most expect and probably under-reported.
>
>When you think through the physics involved and the different ways you
>can injure your spinal column, you'll have a clearer understanding of
>the possibilities of mishaps.
>
>
Or you can learn by doing it . . . you know, by personal experience, instead
ofguessing what it could be like, then pontificating about it. Every time
there is a mishap on a PWC, even in non boating situations, it should be
reported as a boating mishap? When I broke my foot last year on my MX I should
have reported it to DMV as a traffic accident? PWC accidents are over reported
if they include accident statistics from "non boating situations" such as surf
riding. The reason many of these admittedly dangerous forms of these sports
are undertaken are the Physics involved. You know, thrill, adrenalin rush . .
. you must have read about it somewhere?
Simon Wallace
sport is relatively new. I'll get back to you and let you know how
bad my spine is when I'm 40!
hkrause <hkr...@erols-nospam.com> wrote:
>"W.S. O'Neal" wrote:
>>
>> Joe,
>> I would guess that certain members of this fourm (I won't mention any names,
>> I wouldn't want Snapper to get upset) could get a pwc into their orfice
>> fairly easily, god knows enough crap comes out of it ! :)
>>
>> Why were you tring to have childern with a 440 ? Does the 440 emit little
>> 110's after a few months ? Do the 110's grow up to be 550's ?
>>
>> Bill O'Neal
>> WCM
>>
>> --
>> Bill @ E-MAIL: Water...@worldnet.att.net
>> JETSKInJOE wrote in message
>> <19990204003133...@ng-cr1.aol.com>...
>> >ok how exactly does one get a pwc into their "orrifice"? i know the jet
>> >hurts...first time getting on my 440 i nearly wasnt able to have children
>
>
>I wouldn't be surprised if the incidence of spinal and other serious
>injuries from "jumping" PWC's at high speeds over large wakes and waves
>is much, much higher than most expect and probably under-reported.
>
>When you think through the physics involved and the different ways you
>can injure your spinal column, you'll have a clearer understanding of
>the possibilities of mishaps.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hkrause
>
> >I wouldn't be surprised if the incidence of spinal and other serious
> >injuries from "jumping" PWC's at high speeds over large wakes and waves
> >is much, much higher than most expect and probably under-reported.
>
> >
> >When you think through the physics involved and the different ways you
> >can injure your spinal column, you'll have a clearer understanding of
> >the possibilities of mishaps.
> >
> >
>
> ofguessing what it could be like, then pontificating about it.
Learning by "doing" adds nothing to the knowledge base of the specific
cause of injuries and the rate of injuries. Suppose a slight
modification on a PWC seat would cut the rate of spinal injuries by 25%.
You'd have to have a baseline, a study, an analysis...in other words,
some science.
Every time
> there is a mishap on a PWC, even in non boating situations, it should be
> reported as a boating mishap?
As a matter of law, in many states, if you have a boating "mishap" that
results in serious physical injuries or property damage over a certain
amount, you are required to file a report.
When I broke my foot last year on my MX I should
> have reported it to DMV as a traffic accident?
PWC accidents are over reported
> if they include accident statistics from "non boating situations" such as surf
> riding.
Riding a PWC in the surf is a "non-boating situation?" Can you explain
that in detail?
The reason many of these admittedly dangerous forms of these sports
> are undertaken are the Physics involved. You know, thrill, adrenalin rush . .
> . you must have read about it somewhere?
Well, which is it? PWC'ers jump surf for the thrill and the rush...or
they are students of physics?
I'm sorry; nothing you put up in your post makes the slightest sense.
--
Harry Krause
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Ham on rye -- a drunk radio operator.
hkrause
>
> Your first quote:
> >> >When you think through the physics involved and the different ways you
> >> >can injure your spinal column, you'll have a clearer understanding of
> >> >the possibilities of mishaps
>
> >Learning by "doing" adds nothing to the knowledge base of the specific
> >cause of injuries and the rate of injuries. Suppose a slight
> >modification on a PWC seat would cut the rate of spinal injuries by 25%.
>
> >You'd have to have a baseline, a study, an analysis...in other words,
> >some science.
>
> referring to under-reporting of accidents in a thread dealing with surf riding.
> I explained that surf riding accidents should not be reported with boating
> accident statistics. It would be comparable to reporting dirt riding accident
> statistics in the overall motorcycle accident rate.
Your premise is absurd. Boating accidents that involve serious injury or
significant property damage have to be reported by law. I don't know
what the deal is with dirt bikes, but with boats, a report is required.
Got it?
> By the way, have you ever tried surf riding, or is it a subject you feel
> qualified to write about since you read about it somewhere?
Yeah, I've tried surf riding on a regulation surfboard, on a sailboard,
on a boogie board and on a PWC. I thought the sailboard was, by far, the
most exciting.
Boatbasin
>> >When you think through the physics involved and the different ways you
>> >can injure your spinal column, you'll have a clearer understanding of
>> >the possibilities of mishaps
Your second quote:
>Learning by "doing" adds nothing to the knowledge base of the specific
>cause of injuries and the rate of injuries. Suppose a slight
>modification on a PWC seat would cut the rate of spinal injuries by 25%.
>You'd have to have a baseline, a study, an analysis...in other words,
>some science.
I trying to understand what the two have to do with each other. You were
referring to under-reporting of accidents in a thread dealing with surf riding.
I explained that surf riding accidents should not be reported with boating
accident statistics. It would be comparable to reporting dirt riding accident
statistics in the overall motorcycle accident rate.
How would you quantify a 25 % reduction in spinal injuries by modifying
anything on a ski, when referring to wave riding. Each wave is different, each
landing is different. What would you use as a baseline. I would love to
hear of your methodology, but that would entail further contact with you.
By the way, have you ever tried surf riding, or is it a subject you feel
qualified to write about since you read about it somewhere?
Boatbasin
West Sayville Boat Basin
Http://www.boatbasin.com
Boatbasin
>Your premise is absurd. Boating accidents that involve serious injury or
>significant property damage have to be reported by law. I don't know
>what the deal is with dirt bikes, but with boats, a report is required.
And hense the over reporting of PWC accidents. I should have said "should not
have to be reported with boating accident statistics" for you to have a easier
time understanding me. I suppose you would have to ride the surf to understand
the difference, that it is not boating, that it is seeking the thrill that
comes close to the edge. Injuries are a part of it. Comment on subjects that
you have a first hand knowlege of, if there is anything.
hkrause
If you are out on a boat and the boat is in the water, you are, by
definition, boating. "Boating" is defined as "using a boat for enjoyment
or pleasure."
Still don't get it, do you?
--
Harry Krause
- - - - - - - - - - - -
If money could talk, it would say goodbye.
Sandy
and a stupid lady in a string bikini riding on the back.
Enough said.
Mike Steinmetz
dingking wrote:
> I attended a law seminar tonight and the speaker showed a video of how his
> female client damaged her vagina and rectum after falling off a Yamaha
> ski. She has had 15 surgeries so far. Yamaha knew of the problem from the
> thrust and has done nothing to keep idiots from sticking things where they
> don't belong.
>
> He claims there are now warning stickers on skis concerning this. I've
> never seen one. Have you?
>
> Has anyone heard of this problem? I've been riding 8 years and I never
> heard anything like it.
>
> Rick
>
> --
> Sincerely
> Rick
Sandy
obviously there are those that cant tie there own shoes riding so here
is the whole story as it was written to me. I did not advise this layer
one way or the other.
Mike Steinmetz
<><><>
Mr. Steinmetz:
I am an attorney who represents a young woman who suffered serious vaginal injuries in August of
this year when she fell off the back of an accelerating Yamaha WaveRunner GP 1200 personal
watercraft. I am writing to you because I have read articles you have posted on your web page (and
elsewhere, including PWCZone) in which you have candidly aand forcefully criticized Yamaha for not
including passenger handles and/or seat strap on the GP 760 and 1200. In fact, your description of
falling off the GP 1200 as a passenger during an informal test is eerily similar to the way my
client was injured.
I need your help/opinion on some matters that may pertain to my client’s case. I hesitate to ask
because I know of your enthusiasm and passion for personal watercraft, and of your ties to the PWC
industry through your writing, and thought you might perceive my request for assistance as a threat
to the sport or having the potential for undermining your relationship with or place in the industry
if you cooperate with me. If you feel this way, please don’t; my client also enjoys the sport, and
is not one of those seeking to tear it down. Anyway, after several visits to your web site, and
after reading many of your postings on the rec.spor-jetski and (less often) alt.sport.jet-ski
newsgroups, I am convinced that you will see the value of helping us, and hopefully leading to a
safer WaveRunner. Through your writing, you strike me as a level-headed advocate of safety and a
voice of reason and moderation in the sport. You also seem to be concerned about the ever-increasing
speeds/acceleration PWCs can reach and the inability of all but the most experienced operators to
handle the power available to them. My client’s story involves all of those things. Therefore, I’m
hoping you’ll read on and decide to begin a dialogue with me to help me decide what I should do with
my client’s case.
Le me tell you a little more about the accident, and then about some of what I have discovered since
I began looking into this.
My client is a 23-year-old woman who was out boating with her boyfriend (now fiancé) when an
acquaintance pulled up next to their boat on the GP 1200. It turns out that this acquaintance was
fairly inexperienced as a PWC user (contrary to what my client thought), had just purchased the PWC
that morning, and had not insured or registered the PWC before using it that afternoon. He was
accompanied by another PWC and another boat operated by people my client knew to be experienced PWC
users (and with whom she thought the GP rider had ridden many times before). The GP rider asked my
client if she wanted to go for a ride, and she agreed. She boarded the PWC from the side, out of her
boat, and consequently never saw the credit card-sized warning decal that relates to orifice
injuries on the back of the boat. (Nor, for that matter, had she seen any such warning on older PWCs
she had previously ridden, and the operator did not warn her and claims he was unaware of the hazard
before the accident.)
Once on the PWC, she noticed that there was nothing to hang onto, but there was little she could do
about that at that point. During the ride she vaguely felt that the operator was going too fast and
generally not handling the PWC very well, primarily because he was attempting to "wake jump" behind
the ski boat that accompanied him but for the most part was skimming over the top of the wake
because of his speed. After five or so minutes of this, he pulled up to the accompanying boat as if
to stop, but before fully coming to a stop, he gunned the throttle. My client was injured because
she fell, in a sitting position, off the back of the GP in exactly the same way you described as
happening to you in the March 1997 PWCZone article "Yamaha GP1200 - First Impressions." There, you
described a fall during a test ride with Cindy Jones, when Cindy ". . . nailed the gas and in the
blink of an eye, still in the sitting position, there suddenly is no longer a nice cushy seat to
support me. Mike’s wet!" In the full review you did with Chris Paull and Gregg Cohn, published on
your web page, you stated that this "summary dismissal" happened "because I could not hold on to
anything." In both articles, you describe the lack of passenger handles and/or a seat strap on the
GP 760 and 1200 as "a big issue with me" and a "major flaw" and "error for carrying passengers" that
"needs to be fixed."
[I also note that you were critical of the same thing in a review of the Polaris SL 1050, which like
the GP 1200, claims to integrate a passenger hand hold into its rear boarding handle. You noted the
lack of a seat strap but the presence (unlike the GP 1200) of "hand holds on each side forward of
the rear grab handle." Nevertheless, you stated that "[t]he side hand holds are not acceptable under
acceleration. Your only option is to hang on to the driver," which you have described in other
articles as a tenuous and unsafe option. Of the three competitors Yamaha compares to the GP 1200
(the Polaris SL 1050, the Sea-Doo GSX Ltd., and the Kawasaki ZXi ), and two others that seem to be
in the same class and price range (the Arctic Cat Tigershark Daytona 1000, and the PJS SeatJet VXL
1200), only the SL 1050 and the GP 1200 lack a seat strap and/or some form of passenger handle/hold.
I have looked at the Polaris and the Yamaha, both of whom claim that the boarding handles double as
passenger handles, and agree with your assessment that they would be useless as a passenger hold
during acceleration since both are located rearward of where a passenger’s rear-end would be – not
much leverage. From what I’ve read on your web site, though, these observations are not news to
you.]
Unfortunately for my client, my client was not as lucky as you were at this point. Perhaps due to
differences in anatomy, or perhaps just bad luck in the way she hit the water, she suffered severe
vaginal injuries. The jet from the PWC shot into her vaginal cavity. She suffered a two inch tear,
down to and partially including muscle, from her vagina to her rectum; the vaginal walls were also
torn and bleeding profusely, and the jet was forced through the cervix, into the uterus and
fallopian tubes. What was not torn badly was stretched, and the dirty water forced all the way to
her ovaries caused a major infection that (according to her doctors) presents a serious threat to
her fertility and/or future ability to bear children. Although her prognosis is still uncertain, my
client was told there is a sizable risk that she will be infertile, and that if she is fertile she
will most likely have to become pregnant by artificial means and bear her child(ren) via c-section).
She had to have surgery, was hospitalized for nine days, and spent weeks on an IV antibiotic drip,
followed by months of conventional oral antibiotics therapy. The infection is present to this day
and my client still has bouts of severe pain and depression/distress over her situation.
Since I have become involved in this case, I have discovered many other similar cases in which
passengers (almost always female, which I attribute to differences in anatomy and the likelihood
that women will wear skimpier swim wear) have suffered rectal, vaginal, or other orifice injuries
when they fall off the back of an accelerating or moving PWC and come into contact with the jet
propulsion stream. Many, if not most of these cases involve Yamaha machines. There are also at least
four articles in medical journals (Wein P, Thomson DJ. Vaginal Perforation due to Jet Ski Accident,
Aust NZ J Obstet Gynaecol. 1990 Nov; 30(4) 384-385; Haefner H, Andersen HF, Johnson MP. Vaginal
Laceration Following a Jet-Ski Accident, Obstet Gynecol. 1991 Nov; 78(5 pt 2): 986-988; Muller RJ.
Jet-Ski Injury: A Case History, J La State Med Soc. 1993 Jan; 145(1) 27-28; and Fauconnier A, Legier
JP, Nicoloso, E, Vaginal Pressure Trauma: A Complication of Jet-Skis, J Gynecol Obstet Biol Reprod
(Paris). 1995; 24(6): 604-605) detailing case histories of females who have suffered severe vaginal
injuries when they fell of the back of a PWC. I have personally contacted fifteen other attorneys
who have handled (or are currently handling) product liability cases against Yamaha or one of the
other major PWC manufacturers for orifice injuries from contact with the jet.
This anecdotal evidence that vaginal and other orifice injuries from PWC is a growing problem is
further supported by boating accident statistics available on-line. As you probably know, the Coast
Guard tracks boating accidents by both vessel type and type of accident, and reliable estimates of
the number and kind of injuries associated with PWC are available. Both strongly suggest that there
have been many previous similar injuries with the use of Yamaha PWCs, and Yamaha knows or should
know of the severity and frequency of this hazard.
According to my review of boating accident statistics on-line (and off-line), the "falls overboard"
accident category represented 8.4% of all reported PWC accidents in 1995; accidents involving Yamaha
products represented 30% of all of those "falls overboard" PWC accidents. According to an August 27,
1997 Journal of the American Medical Association ("JAMA") article detailing the growth of PWC
injuries in the 1990s (Branche CM, Conn JM, Annest JL. Personal Watercraft-Related Injuries: A
Growing Public Health Concern, JAMA. 1997; 278:663-665), women represented 29% of the victims of PWC
accidents in the period of 1990-1995 (and I would speculate that use of PWCs by women increased
during that period). The JAMA study was based on review of PWC-related injuries treated in hospitals
that are part of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance
System ("NEISS"), which is used to statistically estimate the numbers of injuries related to the use
of particular products (NEISS started tracking PWC injuries in 1989). Injuries are categorized
according to product, as well one of five anatomical locations/regions, including one (the "lower
trunk") that includes the "pubic region." The "lower trunk" injury location accounted for 12.5% of
all NEISS reported PWC accidents between 1990 and 1995. It is reasonable to assume that a good
portion of those injuries were injuries to body orifices, with at least 29% of those involving
women. The NEISS estimated statistics reported (with 95% certainty, or in the words of the
statisticians, "confidence interval") in JAMA show that the number of persons treated for
PWC-related injuries in emergency rooms increased from 2,860 in 1990 to 12,288 in 1995 (this
four-fold increase in PWC injuries outstripped a three-fold increase in PWC in use during the same
period, from 241,376 in 1990 to 760,000 in 1995).
Even in the unlikely event that the trend toward increasing injuries and use of PWC has reversed
itself (or even held flat) since 1995, these numbers suggest that over 1500 "lower trunk" PWC
injuries are suffered every year. If 29% of those injuries involved females (approximately 450
injuries), one might reasonably expect that a significant percentage of those injuries involved
vaginal trauma following a fall off a PWC, and 30% of that number predictably would have occurred on
Yamaha products. Even if you assume that injuries to the pubic region account for, say, 25% of
"lower trunk" injuries (or about 110 injuries to female PWC users per year), and that only 8.4% of
those were attributable to "falls overboard" accidents (which is unlikely because female pubic
region injuries are probably more likely to result from "falls overboard" accidents than the
percentage such accidents bears in relation to all PWC accidents), there should be 9-10 accidents
involving injuries like my client’s every year. The statistics say that 3-4 of those should be
riding Yamaha PWCs, but I would speculate that the number is even higher given Yamaha's failure to
include passenger handles and/or seat straps on its fastest and highest accelerating PWC models.
Remember these estimates are based on 1995 numbers; given the trends, they are probably higher in
1996 and 1997. Despite the anecdotal evidence dating back to the late 1980s, and pretty strong
statistical evidence of a problem that I found without much digging, it is only in the last few
years has the industry tried to warn of the hazard (and then, rather feebly, as I will get to
later).
Anyway, the point is not to bore you with statistics, but to illustrate that this is not an isolated
occurrence, or even an unlikely thing; your own experience, despite being a seasoned veteran,
attests to how quickly and easily these accidents can happen, and I hope I have convinced you that
this can and often does result in very serious injuries. Furthermore, with ever-increasing speed and
acceleration capabilities of these PWCs, and the changing demographics of the sport (i.e., more
inexperienced users), I would expect to see more and more of these kinds of injuries.
Don’t get me wrong. I recognize that the operator bears responsibility for what happened.
Nevertheless, from reading your articles, the medical literature and accident statistics, and
talking to other attorneys who’ve handled these cases, I am convinced that something is amiss here.
It seems as though you might agree. So what do I want from you? Real-world commentary and
assistance. I do not make a decision to sue a respected company like Yamaha lightly, and want
objective input. I am not an experienced PWCer, though, so I turn to you for comments on what I
found and what it seems to mean to me. I emphasize that we have not made any decisions about whether
to sue Yamaha for product liability for a defective design, though I will admit candidly that what I
have seen points in that direction. I am interested in you comments, and wonder about your
willingness to go on the record with your criticisms if it ever comes to that. Consider the
following information, as well.
The day after I first heard about this accident — the same day I found your articles — I read the
JAMA about PWC injuries, which included the reference to the case studies of PWC-related vaginal
injuries. I knew that this was more than an isolated occurrence, and started looking at the accident
statistics I quoted above. After that, I got onto Yamaha’s web site and found that they have a new
warning about injuries to orifices. I asked my client if she had seen such a warning on the GP 1200
on which she was hurt. She said she didn’t see it at the time (nor did the operator tell her) but
since the accident has found out that there is a small (a little larger than a credit card, perhaps
3"x5" or less) sticker on the back with a warning that reads:
WARNING!
• Strong streams of water from the jet nozzle can be dangerous, and can result in serious injury
when directed at the body orifices (rectum and vagina).
• Wear a wetsuit to protect body.
• Do not board if operator is applying throttle.
I have serious questions about the adequacy and conspicuousness of that warning, as does every human
factors/warnings expert with whom I have consulted. With increasing emphasis on PWCs carrying more
than one person, it is necessary and more important to convey warnings and instructions for safe use
to people other than the owner/operator. It is certainly foreseeable that a person might be asked if
they want a ride from another boat or from the water, and that passengers who are injured in this
way will have less access to warnings and/or instructions that might reduce or protect against
injury to orifices from the jet stream. In foreseeable circumstances such as this, an on-vessel
warning that protective clothing should be worn (if it exists at all) is unlikely to be seen or
read. It does not seem reasonable to me to expect the operator to convey all safety information and
warnings in that situation, nor does it seem reasonable to expect a (perhaps one-time) passenger to
observe, read and understand a warning on a very small decal that is buried among many others while
boarding a vessel that is probably bobbing in waves and bathed in the glare of sunlight. My client
(for one) never saw the warning, and it was not conveyed by the operator.
and even if read, passengers in these circumstances would be incapable of acting on the warning
short of not accepting a ride at all..
Furthermore, even if the warning is observed and read, how would someone in my client's position be
expected to respond to the warning? Few people offered a ride as my client was will just happen to
have a wet suit with them, and I would venture to say that most people would prefer not to wear a
wet suit on a hot August day in any event. Therefore, it is imperative that the warning explicitly
convey the danger, how it happens, and how to prevent it. In order to make the passenger’s decision
to ride an informed choice, the content of the warning must be much more graphic and specific than
what Yamaha offered.
For instance, even though Yamaha warns of "serious injury" when "streams of water from the jet
nozzle . . . [are] directed at the body orifices," there is no mention of the fact that this is
likely to happen when a passenger falls off the back of the PWC; in fact, the warning implies that
the most likely way injury of this kind can occur is boarding while the operator is applying the
throttle. There is also no description of precisely what kind of "serious injury" may result, and
certainly nothing that is graphic enough to allow an informed choice based on weighing of known
risks. The warning is also ambiguous about what a person might do to avoid injuries to orifices.
There is a vague instruction to "[w]ear a wetsuit to protect body" (in a separate, bulleted
paragraph from the warning about injuries to orifices from the jet), but there is no indication that
wearing a wetsuit will specifically protect against vaginal or other orifice injury, and no
discussion of how prevalent such injuries might be in the absence of a wetsuit or other protective
clothing. [Interestingly, Yamaha's web site is more specific about the protection a wetsuit might
provide against orifice injuries, but states the cause of such injuries to be "impact with the water
surface" rather than the jet. It reads: "Protective Clothing: Wear wet suits to protect against
abrasions, hypothermia, and injuries to orifices (rectum and vagina) from impact with the water
surface."] In view of these inadequacies, I don't think a person who is offered a ride in
circumstances similar to my client's is able to make a realistic and informed choice not to ride.
For these content-related reasons, too, I believe the warning is inadequate.
Beyond issues of the adequacy of the warning, it is my understanding that the standard of good and
competent engineering practice requires "designing out" a hazard, and "designing in" injury
limitation provisions to the fullest feasible extent before ever relying on a warning, unless the
benefits of omission of these design solutions can be shown to outweigh the risks of the omission.
That is called the design engineer’s "Order of Precedence for Hazard Control," and it is so
fundamental and widely recognized as a concept that it is included in the Society of Profession
Engineers’ Code of Ethics. The duty to follow this Order of Precedence (i.e., rely on warnings only
as a last resort when other design solutions fail) becomes all the more great as the frequency
and/or severity of a particular injury increases. With PWC-related vaginal and other orifice
injuries, I do not think the omission of design changes you and others have identified can be
justified, and the warning Yamaha relies upon is ineffective in any event.
You have described the "major error" of Yamaha's failure to include a seat strap and/or passenger
handles specifically to prevent the kind of falls off of the back of a PWC that lead to full force
impact of the jet with bodily orifices. Others have suggested passenger lanyard cut-off switches or
deflectors activated by a lanyard and the absence/fall of a passenger, modified seats, and/or a form
of a "cissy bar," among other things, as means of eliminating or reducing these accidents and their
severity. Your suggestion is proven, by inclusion in other manufacturers’ models, and you own
experience (as indicated by your writings). Others have been tested and shown to be feasible and
effective by engineers studying this problem. In these circumstances, it is difficult to see the
industry’s refusal to deal with this problem effectively (through either design or effective
warnings, though design is clearly what is called for) as anything but the age-old conflict between
marketing/profit and safety. As an enthusiast and consumer, you deserve more, and so does my client.
Please give some thought to what I’ve said (at way too long length) and consider assisting me
through dialogue and perhaps eventually as a witness in any litigation that develops. Engineering
and warnings experts are fine, and necessary, but juries trust people like you who are out there
riding every day more. What you have said, and may say, will mean much more. Whatever level of
involvement you want is fine, but I am interested in your comments.
Thanks for reading this far, and for your anticipated cooperation and assistance.
Pete Livengood
THE LAW OFFICE OF PETER G. LIVENGOOD
(the rest deleted for privacy reasons)
Sandy
anymore...
Mike Steinmetz
h2oc...@calweb.com
David Wells
unwritten policy of if you have a passenger then they wear the strap. This means
that when the driver does something stupid then the orifice injury doesn't happen,
and the driver doesn't not realize the passenger isn't there.
just my .02 worth :)
April
Dicshalfin
amazons....Tee Hee
Dicshalfin
up a wee bit. Now that was a sick one Im sorry...................Gary
David Alexander
of the risks. Jet pump thrust ranges between 600-720 lbs. (depending on
model). Eye, ear and mouth injuries can also result.
-**** Posted from RemarQ, http://www.remarq.com/?b ****-
Real Discussions for Real People
Brett H.
the hell is rectal?????
Tom Howlin
>
> I always knew it was more dangerous skiing in Virgina.........where
> the hell is rectal?????
>
>
Rectal is south of Scrotum and a little northwest of Uranus - sorry,
just couldnt' resist that one.
Tom
Lake Anna Watercraft Center
Bill O'Neal
--
Bill @ E-MAIL: Water...@worldnet.att.net
Tom Howlin wrote in message <37262C...@erols.com>...
Tom,
You are confusing Rectum with Tain't :)
Bill O'Neal
WCM
JMikos
-J
M.Grant
I always thought it was "Tween"
:)