SOAP BOX: Speeding jet-ski riders a pack of idiots

I’m talking about the jet-ski riders who tear around at incredible speeds, terrifying everyone around them and making a hell of a noise.

Damian Bathersby, Sunshine Coast Daily Journalist. Photo Patrick Woods / Sunshine Coast Daily. Picture: Patrick Woods

CAN I say one thing to the jet-ski riders and boaties who make life miserable for everyone else?

You're a pack of idiots.

I'm not talking to all of you jet-skiers and boaties. I know most of you follow the rules, but there is a minority who flout speed limits and general good manners and give you all a bad name. Dang

I reckon you must see them and shake your heads in disbelief, the same way we do when someone screams past us on the roads.

I'm talking about the jet-ski riders who tear around at incredible speeds, terrifying everyone around them and making a hell of a noise.

I've never ridden a jet-ski and I'm sure they are great fun, but couldn't you head out to sea to have that fun?

I'm sure it would be just as exciting for you and it wouldn't have an impact on anyone else.

And don't you boaties have to sit some sort of test before you get a licence?

And doesn't part of it involve learning about speed limits?

I only ask because there's a lot of you who seem to have no idea.

I know you could argue that going a few knots over the speed limit is no different to breaking the road speed limit by a couple of kilometres an hour, but I disagree.

Not everyone is a nature lover but it's not hard to see the impact a speeding, noisy jet-ski or boat has on an estuary.

And don't get me started on the idiots who cruise up and down canals like they're on a speedway.

While there's not enough police to monitor every kilometre of our waterways, there are plenty of video cameras around.

So just a word of warning guys. Take it easy because these days - you never know when someone is catching your stupidity on film.

Originally published as SOAP BOX: Speeding jet-ski riders a pack of idiots