ST. PAUL PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS DISCUSS PERSONAL WATER CRAFT OR JET SKI HAZARDS - PART 3

MINNESOTA PRODUCT LIABILITY LAWYERS SPEAK OUT ON WHAT MANUFACTUERS OF PERSONAL WATER CRAFTS AND JET SKIS SHOULD BE DOING TO KEEP YOU AND YOUR FAMILY SAFE

In my last two entries, I discussed the problem of body cavity injuries the can occur if a person - usually a passenger - falls of the back of a jet ski or personal water craft into the jet wash. I also discussed how including fine print warnings on the back of the jet ski doesn't fix the problem and won't, in my opinion, absolve the manufacturer of product liability claims.

So what should a manufacturer do? There are a few simple and cost effective answers. First, manufacturers should install seat-backs on the back of these multi-passnger crafts. The seatbacks don't have to extend up two feet. Many manufacturers, including Yamaha and Kawasaki, are using shorter seat-backs on some of their crafts that help to keep passengers from falling off the back. These seat-backs should, in my opinion, be on every mulit-passenger craft.

Second, most of these jet skis just don't have a good place for the passenger to hold on. They should have grab handles on the sides of the seats that are easy to find and hold on to.

And last, all personal water crafts have to have a lanyard that attaches to passengers as well as the driver. If the driver falls off, the lanyard pulls from the machine and cuts the engine. For years, manufacturers have been saying that lanyards don't work for passengers because they don't cut the engine quickly enough to avoid body cavity injuries. Of course, with the money they've spent defending their designs, they may have been able to develop a lanyard shut off switch that could have solved the problem.

If you need to speak with a personal water craft or jet ski attorney, call product liability lawyer, Nate Bjerke of Champion Law in St. Paul, Minnesota at 651.766.5886.