QLD paddleboarder films terrifying close call with balaclava-clad jetskiers as calls grow for police crackdown
Video captured by a local Gold Coast paddleboarder of a group of balaclava-clad jetskiers riding dangerously close to his board over the weekend has prompted calls for a police crackdown on dangerous riders.
Bond University semester teaching fellow Anthony Erickson, while out enjoying a Saturday morning paddle, was showered in spray after a group of jet skiers passed within metres of his board.
The keen paddleboarder, who said this was a frequent occurrence when out on Gold Coast waters, has now permanently attached a GoPro to his board to record instances of dangerous riding.
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“These things are up to about 450kg in weight, and they’re travelling at about 80km/h in an 11.1km zone,” Dr Erickson told Today.
“I’m sort of competent on the board, so I’m not going to get knocked off, but other people would have a problem.”
Queensland maritime law requires riders to travel less than six knots per hour (11km/h) when within 60m of people in the water, anchored or moored boats, structures, boat ramps or pontoons.
Despite similar incidents having been reported to police and raised with the parents of kids known to be hooning around Gold Coast waters, Dr Erickson said the responses had been “really disappointing”.
“I think it’s got to start with the parents … (but) it also has to come from the community as well, there are so many people ticked off about it,” he said.
“Basically not too many people want to stick their hands up … it also has to come from the police.
“I’m not critical of the police at all because I’ve spoken to the water police several times, they just don’t have the people to do it.”
The calls for a crackdown follow targeted safety blitzes in Sydney late last year when NSW Maritime issued hefty fines for unlicensed riders and the launch of the Ride Right jet ski safety campaign in Victoria.
“There’s a lot of conversation about this on the coast, I know a lot of people who have had these guys charge them in tinnies or jet skis and they’re trembling,” Dr Erickson said.
“Afterwards they said, ‘Look, we thought we were going to die’ and I’m not overdramatising.”
Queensland Police have been contacted for comment.
Originally published as Balaclava-clad jet ski gang terrorise Gold Coast paddleboarders
