2009 National Safe Boating Week Will Remind Boaters to ‘Wear It!’
More than 411,000 boats of all types and sizes will be on Ohio’s waterways this spring and summer, placing Ohio among the nation’s top 10 states for recreational boating. Ohio had a total of 411,366 registered watercraft last year and still remains 9th nationally in watercraft registrations.
Ohio has experienced an encouraging decline in boating-related deaths in recent years. In fact, 2004 was the safest on record for Buckeye State boaters. We need your help to keep that record intact. National Safe Boating Week, May 16-22, 2009, is among our best opportunities to reach Ohio boaters – just as the boating season is getting underway across the state. This year’s theme is “Wear It Ohio!”
 National Safe Boating Week is part of a year-round push for safe boating across the nation. During this week, members of the National Safe Boating Council, including the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the U.S. Power Squadrons, state boating law administrators, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the American Red Cross and other groups provide extensive media coverage, local exhibits, and special programs on safe boating. “Wear It Ohio!” makes the strong appeal to boaters, old and new, to wear their life jacket. Recreational boaters and their passengers can greatly increase their chances of surviving serious accidents by properly wearing a life jacket while boating. It’s not enough to have it on board; boaters must wear them to save their lives. This is the key message of National Safe Boating Week.
Ohio’s local support of the national campaign for National Safe Boating Week emphasizes the four most important things boaters can do to reduce accidents and fatalities: take a boating education course; get a Vessel Safety Check; never boat under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or prescription medications; and Wear It (your life jacket) Ohio!
As a follow up to National Safe Boating Week, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Watercraft is launching, for the second boating season, an inflatable life jacket loaner program for adults 18 and older as part of its Wear It Ohio! life jacket awareness campaign. Inflatable jackets are being distributed at promotional events that begin May 23 and run through July 19 at Buck Creek, Caesar Creek, Portage Lakes, and, for the first time, Buckeye Lake.
Boaters who receive the jackets must pledge to wear the inflatable jacket anytime while boating on the water, know how it works, keep it in good condition, encourage others to wear their life jackets while boating or fishing, tell other boaters about new life jacket styles, and boat safely and responsibly at all times. Those who receive the loaner life jackets must return them to the Division of Watercraft by October 31, 2009. See "Related Links" for more information. |