I got a 1999 Response LX (step over open bow) a few years ago and have driven/ridden in my cousin's same '99 RLX since they got one new. My '89 ProStar was a great slalom boat, but it was tough to bring friends along when skiing. I brought water over the windshield on that boat twice as I was learning how to safely operate it with big waves around. One of the main reasons I got the RLX was because of the open bow. It is also better for slaloming, wakeboarding, footing, open water cruising, and the 1-2 times a year we feel like surfing it, it does OK-my youngest can even occasionally throw the rope. (We only do that on a big lake, out in the middle-I don't ever want to be accused of being that guy us slalom skiers hate.) I've had a little water spill over a few times, but I've never dunked the bow on that boat like I did on the old Prostar. My wife and I will occasionally pull a skier in the course with 1-2 in the bow, but only on our private lake or if there are no other boats out on public water. My daughter is a great slalom course driver, but she will not drive with anyone in the bow, she just doesn't feel comfortable doing it.
We took it out on a very busy lake on the 4th of July on a big lake in the metro (White Bear Lake), as we had several folks who wanted to go for a pleasure cruise. There were a million other boats out, we maxed out our boat with people and I drove, and I warned everyone to stay seated at all times we were under way. I also warned them that I will occasionally need to throttle up if I see waves coming, sometimes with very little notice. I made sure we had USCG vests readily available for everyone plus a throwable. Our outing was great and uneventful, but we could not believe it when we saw someone out not just skiing, but dropping a ski. There were also 2-3 others out tubing. Absolutely insane to us.
I'm certainly not the best boat driver, but I feel like I've spent enough time behind the wheel to have good common sense. I like to think that it is not that hard, but when I teach someone new how to drive, I realize that there is a ton of things I take for granted, and it really is not as easy as it looks. I'm certainly not one for more government regulation when it is not needed, but I firmly believe that it is way too easy to rent a boat, or get a vehicle license for that matter. More training and the right education would prevent a lot of accidents, both major and minor.
So if you know what you're doing, open bow ski boats are great and can be used safely. But I do agree that the risk factor increases quite a bit over runabouts/pontoons/etc. It's the ones that really don't know what they are doing that we all need to be ever watchful of, regardless of what they are driving either on the water or the road.