Before the Season Opens, Are Your Recreational Boaters Informed and Prepared?
Posted by proforma on March 9, 2011
As warm weather is just around the corner, it’s time to think about the coming months of boating, swimming and other water-based activities. If you own a boat, every member of your family should be trained on safe boating and safety hazards associated with swimming, paddling, snorkeling, jetskiing or other water sport.
One of the best sites we’ve ever seen for kids is the National Safe Boating Council’s Sidekicks site. The volume of interactive, fun activities is impressive and useful. Another United States Coast Guard site offers several good videos here.
For adults, the Boating Safety Resource Center lists locations where boat owners can take courses.
The power of persistent advocacy is evident in the number of people who now buckle up when driving a car. We need to emphasize the same when boating. Depressingly, life jacket wear rates among all boaters (adults and youth) have been declining since 1999. Read the 2010 study for details.
We also need to be persistent in pursuing drunk boating. We haven’t been able to convince people that drinking and driving on the water is worse than on land, with nearly half of boating deaths involve alcohol. Read Drinking While Boating - Don’t Do It! You can support “dry” boating and obtain more information at Operation Dry Water’s Facebook site.
It really is scary sometimes what people will do when they get on a boat. All of a sudden they turn into Vin Diesel in Fast and the Furious and just drive recklessly.