Boating Safety - Not Just for Kids
A reader of LAKE VIEWS sent a suggestion advocating for Wisconsin’s Boating Safety Course. It’s not just for kids 12-16 years old. Anyone born in 1989 or after is required by law to have successfully completed a course, and to carry a validated card when operating a motorized boat on Lake Beulah.
Actually, just sitting outside and watching boaters on a busy weekend, it’s not hard to notice there are plenty of uneducated and therefore dangerous boaters. For example, what is a boat driver thinking when allowing passengers to sit on the bow while bouncing across the water at a high speed?
The US Coast Guard keeps records of boating incidents. Here are a few from the year of most readily available data, 2022.
75% of fatal boating accident victims drowned, 85% of them without a life jacket.
Alcohol use is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents.
Where length was known, 3 of every 4 boaters who drowned were using vessels less than 21 feet in length.
Where instruction was known, 74% of deaths occurred on boats where the operator did not receive boating safety instruction. Only 14% percent of deaths occurred on vessels where the operator had received a nationally-approved boating safety education certificate.
Operator inattention, operator inexperience, improper lookout, excessive speed, and machinery failure ranked as the top five primary contributing factors in non-fatal accidents.
Where data was known, navigation rule violations were a contributing factor in 50% of accidents, 35% of deaths, and almost 60% of injuries.
Watching boats on a busy weekend, one has to wonder If some boaters think boating safety certificates are only for kids. PLEASE CONSIDER REFRESHING YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF BOATING SAFETY RULES AND REGULATIONS BY SIGNING UP TO TAKE THE WISCONSIN BOATER SAFETY COURSE. https://www.boat-ed.com/wisconsin/