COLUMBUS, OH - Operation Overboard, an annual effort of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to enhance early season boater safety on Ohios waterways, will begin this month across the state.
With unseasonably warm weather, boaters already are enjoying Ohios lakes and rivers, said Jeff Hoedt, chief of the ODNR Division of Watercraft. It is important they remember that even though the air temperatures may be warm, water temperatures are still dangerously cold and an accidental overturn could be deadly.
Operation Overboard, initiated last year, directs state watercraft officers and local marine patrols to specifically look for potential safety hazards such as improperly loaded and overloaded boats during vessel safety checks conducted at boat ramps and on waterways. The program primarily is focused on people using small boats on inland waters.
Capsizing, swamping and people falling overboard comprise a large majority of all boating fatalities, including two fatalities that occurred in late January in northeast and northwest Ohio. Last year, 11 of Ohios 19 boating fatalities resulted from capsizing and people falling overboard. In most cases, fatality victims were not wearing life jackets at the time of their accident.
Last year as part of Operation Overboard, Ohio joined a new nationwide vessel safety check program that is administered by the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Under this new program, owners of inspected boats will be able to display a special decal this spring that is recognized throughout the country as having been properly inspected under a set of unified safety standards.
Ohio is the first state to use its state watercraft officers in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and U.S. Power Squadrons for vessel safety inspections under the new unified vessel safety standards. Last year, state watercraft officers alone completed over 23,000 vessel safety inspections. Ohio had 417,204 registered watercraft in 2001, down slightly from the record 418,701 watercraft registrations in 2000.
The ODNR Division of Watercraft administers Ohios boating program. The division oversees boat registration and titling operations, enforces boating laws on Ohios waterways, educates the public, and provides funding to local communities for education, enforcement and boating facilities. These programs are user-funded through boat registration fees and through a portion of state and federal motor fuel taxes.