A
CHAMPION
FOR
ACCESS
SAFETY &
The association’s early years involved in-depth
advocacy to come in and say that the
manufacturers of personal watercrafts were
aware of the concerns and were actively
working to remedy them.
The evolution has continued to a point where
machines on the water today hardly resemble
those from even 10 years ago, according to
David Dickerson, the PWIA’s director of state
government relations.
“In response to the riders and to the
marketplace, today’s PWC is wider and
significantly more stable,” he said.“The capacity
has gone from one to three, the sophistication
of them has increased dramatically and that
sophistication includes such things as having a
trainer key – which limits the speed of the vessel
to about 30 miles per hour. When you’re a new
rider, you can get on and don’t have to worry
about the speed at all. You’re going to be
operating it in a very comfortable way.
“Some of them have GPS, they have watercraft
storage capacity; they have special systems that
if it turns upside down, the fuel system is
pressurized so it doesn’t release fuel into the
water. There’s a tremendous amount of
sophistication that’s come to the PWC.”
Business World chatted recently with Dickerson
about the association’s membership – which
consists of Yamaha, Kawasaki and BRP – the role
the association plays in their member businesses
and the factors that will influence the industry’s
future.
An interview with David Dickerson, Director of
State Government Relations for the
Personal Watercraft Industry Association
June-July 2014
| BusinessWorld |175
