Gold Coast teen tinnie hoons terrorising tourists on our waterways
A BROADBEACH Waters tour guide says her clients are being terrorised by teenage tinnie hoons.
Beaches & Fishing
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YOUNG boaties chasing “likes” on social media are egging each other on to film dangerous stunts on Gold Coast waterways, police say.
Days after a 13-year-old was hospitalised after a tinnie crash at Benowa Waters, Gold Coast Water Police boss Senior Sergeant Gavin Peachey revealed the challenge facing officers attempting to educate teenagers about the dangers of speeding in boats.
“There’s heaps of footage out there on YouTube. You look up ‘Gold Coast tinnie rats’ and you can look at hours of them,” Snr Sgt Peachey said.
“They film all their own stunts and download them. They’re kind of chasing likes so the more dangerous the stunt, the better the footage.
Social media ‘likes’ driving tinnie hoons: Cops
“Therein lies the problem. We go to a school and show footage and it’s one of their mates and they walk out high-fiving each other that the police are using my footage.
“They’re some of the problems we’ve got when we go to schools to educate kids.”
Senior Sergeant Peachey said tinnie rats were problematic on the Nerang and Coomera rivers, at Broadbeach Waters and on the Broadwater.
“We receive a significant number of complaints,” Snr Sgt Peachey said.
“Sometimes we are able to identify the offenders and investigate the incident and take the appropriate action.”
Broadbeach Waters tour guide Leana Brown said her clients were terrorised by teenage tinnie hoons earlier this year.
“They were first-time kayakers and the kids were speeding around me,” she said.
“I had to give them a wave of the hand — hey this is enough, you guys need to move away from us.
“In an ‘I’ll get you back’ sort of (way) … they came straight for me, turned the boat and then splashed me.”
Ms Brown said she reported the issue and police later visited the teenagers.
But the business operator said the problem had become much worse over the last 12 months.
“They don’t understand that if that boat gets out of control, that kid could have killed me that day.
“I just think it’s all about education.”
While the minimum age for attaining a boat licence is 16, children can operate a vessel that has an outboard motor with six horsepower or less.
Senior Sergeant Peachey said changing legislation governing the use of boats was an option but more research was needed.
The problem with legislative changes is, is this an isolated problem on the Gold Coast?” he said.
“The legislation changes will affect the whole of Queensland.
“Is it a perceived issue or is it real? Is the risk real?”
A Transport and Main Roads spokeswoman said while there had been no formal discussion around legislative changes, the department was open to negotiations.
“We are always open to safety improvements and work with other agencies to keep our waterways safe,” she said.