A recent Queensland District Court decision has found a jet boat
operator was not negligent when a passenger sustained a back injury
during a jet boat ride.
In James v Surfers Jet1, 66 year old Walter
James claimed damages for a back injury he sustained while a
passenger in a jet boat ride on the Gold Coast in April 2010. The
jet boat trip involved a one hour ride on the Gold Coast Broadwater
and included stunts being performed by the boat skipper including
spins (with the bow of the boat going below the water, the stern
rising out of the water and the boat turning around 270°). It
was during one of these spin manoeuvres that Mr James says he was
thrown into the air and crashed down on his seat. He says he felt
excruciating pain in his back, and it later emerged he had
fractured a vertebra (with his back injury being assessed as a 28%
whole person impairment).
