TINNY RAT TAKEOVER: Why these ‘eshays of the sea’ are coming to a canal near you

From tinnies to e-bikes and e-scooters, too many teens are behaving badly … and parents aren’t practising what the law is preaching

Tis the season for tinny rats … and these eshays of the sea are coming to a canal near you.

Just like the land-based breed, these bogan teen boaties take delight in being a public menace – performing outrageous, illegal and often dangerous boating stunts and posting video footage online.

Driving at high speeds, spraying water and playing ‘chicken’ with other recreational boaters, their exploits are gleefully posted on every social media platform available.

While these tinny rats seem to crawl ashore during the colder months, they’re back in plague proportions in Gold Coast waterways once the weather warms up … such as this weekend.

“Just had a run in with a little kid on a small blue and fluoro pink jet-ski on the Broadwater near Paradise Point,” said one user on the Gold Coast subreddit.

Tinny hoons have long been an issue on Gold Coast’s waterways. Picture: Jerad Williams

“He rides around in a full black motorbike helmet, presumably so nobody sees his face, with a pair of mates in a small tinny in front of him.

“I think they are probably filming his ‘prank’, which is accelerating straight towards other small craft and then turning to spray them at the last moment."

Indeed, it seems this is becoming an annual issue.

Almost exactly one year ago, Gold Coast Water Police Sergeant Shannon Gray said the water-based hoons ramped up during the school holidays and weekends, particularly in warmer weather.

Sgt Gray said the tinny rats, aged about 10 to 17 years old, topped the charts when it came to complaints.

“It’s the issue we get the most complaints about from residents,” he said.

“We see accidents every year where they run into pontoons or markers, they fall out of their boats when they are hooning. It’s definitely a dangerous activity.”

It does beg the question about just how much access our kids should have to motorised toys – whether tinnies, e-bikes or e-scooters.

Tinny rats are active on Tik Tok Picture: supplied

These are vehicles that can prove fatal for both the operator and bystander when not used responsibly – such as the hair-raising, death-defying footage of an electric scooter rider overtaking cars at high speed and weaving through traffic in Runaway Bay.

And the rider behaviour featured in that video is far from unusual, I’ve seen it myself driving down Bermuda Street in Mermaid Waters, Cottesloe Drive in Robina and Nerang-Broadbeach Road in Carrara.

It’s not like there aren’t rules and regulations around these vehicles, and there’s plenty of punishment for improper use as well … but is there enough enforcement?

Given that the minimum age for driving a tinny, e-bike or e-scooter solo is 16 years, it’s pretty clear that a hell of a lot of kids – and parents – are not practising what the law is preaching.

It’s a totally different mindset from driving a car – probably because we all know just how well the road rules are enforced.

Tinny rats even 'like' Facebook Picture: supplied

There is no way any parent would allow their child behind the wheel without plenty of instruction and relevant permits.

But when it comes to tinnies and micro-mobility vehicles, the parental oversight is clearly lacking.

It’s one reason why, back in 2016, a group of Gold Coast residents was pushing for boat licence rules and restrictions to fall into line with that of motor vehicles.

Biggera Waters and Runaway Bay residents made the proposal to the Gold Coast Waterways Authority that teens should not be granted a boat licence until age 17, that they should complete a two-year P-plate period with passenger and motor size restrictions, their boat should be marked to indicate the driver was on probation and they would only be allowed to drive sun-up to sundown in the first year.

The truth is there’s very good reason why kids must be at least 17 and have 100 hours of logged driving before they can hit the road solo – because these are children in charge of deadly vehicles. Their brains are not yet hardwired to see all the potentials for danger, but they are wired for risk taking. And it’s the same for boats on the water and e-bikes and e-scooters in traffic.

Their ‘pranks’ may be aggravating, but these tinny rats and e-eshays are driving head-on into danger … we must protect them from themselves.