Residents, Visitors Urged to Use Safe Boating Practices
National Safe Boating Week (May 19-25) provides the perfect opportunity for Delaware’s Division of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Section to remind First State residents and visitors to take safety precautions while they enjoy Delaware’s waterways.
Among the important tips boaters should keep in mind:
- Life jackets save lives, and Delaware law requires that children age 12 and younger wear them while underway in any vessel on Delaware waters. Though life jackets are not legally required for adults, Fish and Wildlife Enforcement encourages wearing them, especially for those with limited swimming skills.
- It is not illegal for recreational boat operators to consume alcohol, but the same blood alcohol limit used to measure intoxication in automobile drivers applies to boat operators: 0.08 or above is legally intoxicated. Boat operators found to be at or over the limit face fines and potential jail time, and also put themselves and their passengers at risk.
“Drinking while boating is a choice. The best way to minimize the risk of an accident is to make the wise choice – don’t drink and boat,” said Sgt. Greg Rhodes of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement, noting Enforcement’s Office of Boating Safety encourages boaters to have a non-drinking designated boat operator aboard.
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In 2006, nearly 700 people died on our nation’s waterways. Delaware had only two fatalities and 19 reportable boating accidents, one of the lowest accident rates in the country. Education is the key to the state’s consistent safe boating success. In 2006 the enrollment in a required boating safety class increased by 15 percent, as 1,700 people took classes in Delaware taught by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, U.S. Power Squadrons and state volunteers - a successful boating safety partnership.
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The Boating Safety Office also urges boaters to get to know correct operating procedures for their boat, because even small mistakes can lead to serious consequences. Last year, for example, an improperly anchored boat capsized and one of its occupants drowned.
To learn the rules of the water, boaters also should take a boating safety course – and Delaware law requires it. All persons born on or after Jan. 1, 1978 must successfully complete such a course in order to operate a boat in Delaware waters, including personal watercraft.
The Office of Boating Safety provides volunteer instructors to private and non-profit organizations, schools, clubs and the public to educate boaters on skills and seamanship and to encourage them to be safe, knowledgeable and responsible. Courses range from adult boating safety with online options to school programs for kids in grades K-12, such as water safety (K-3 and 4-8) and “Fatal Vision,” which educates high schoolers on the dangers of drinking and driving a boat. Courses are offered free of charge, including materials and educational aids.
For more information on the state’s boating safety education courses, please visit www.fw.delaware.gov/Boating/BoatingSafety.htm or contact Sgt. Greg Rhodes at 302- 739-9913 or email gregory.rhodes@state.de.us.
Boating Safety Facts
- Currently, more 70 million Americans enjoy boating, with more than 13 million recreational vessels registered in the United States.
- In 2006, nearly 700 people died on our nation’s waterways. Delaware, which had only two fatalities and 19 reportable boating accidents, consistently has one of the lowest accident rates in the country. Education is the key to the state’s safe boating success. With Delaware requiring all persons born on or after Jan. 1, 1978 to take a boating safety class before they can operate a boat on state waters, more than 82 classes were offered in 2006. The courses were both in basic and advanced boating safety, with the option of taking them online or in a classroom.
- In 2006 the number of students taking a required boating safety class increased by 15 percent. More than 1,700 persons took classes in Delaware. Most of the classes were taught by members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, U.S. Power Squadrons and state volunteers. This partnership makes the state’s boating safety program a success.
- Since 1991, Delaware has had a child personal floatation device law, requiring all children 12 and younger to wear a life jacket while underway in a vessel on Delaware waters. Not a single child has died on Delaware waters as a result of drowning without a life jacket in a boating accident since the inception of the law.
- In 1973, there were 1,754 boating fatalities nationwide. In 2005, 697 fatalities occurred with 12,942,414 registered boats, which equals to 5.4 fatalities per 100,000 registered boats. Meaning that despite the dramatic increase in boating participation, boating-related fatalities have decreased through the years. These decreases in fatalities are directly attributed to recreational boating safety programs.
- These boating safety programs, made possible through the Federal Boating Act of 1971 and the creation of the Wallop-Breaux Trust Fund in 1984, are estimated to have saved more than 23,000 lives since 1971.
- Currently, 44 of the 50 states have a boating safety education requirement in place. Statistics show that the states with the longest history of boating education requirements also have the lowest average fatality rates in the country. Five states have had boating education requirements in place since 1960 with these states have a fatality rate per 100,000 registered boats of 4.03 persons. Fifteen states have had boating education requirements in place for 10-19 years with an average fatality rate per 100,000 registered boats is 5.52 persons. Six states have no boating education requirements in place and their average number of fatalities rate per 100,000 registered boats is 12.28 persons.
- “Boat Smart, Boat Safe and Wear It!” While enjoying Delaware’s beautiful natural resources, DNREC’s Boating Safety Office urges citizens to stay sober when at the helm, wear your life jacket and take a boating safety education course to ensure the safety of you and your family.
