Fatalities underscore pending boater safety bills

Even as record budget cuts were coming down and before the water-related tragedies of recent weeks, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ chief lobbyist was focusing on boating safety. When asked during the first weeks of the regular session which topic was atop his policy list, Lt. Col. Jeff Mayne spoke breathlessly about a lack of boater education, life vests and alcohol use. Over the past four years, these elements, along with others, have resulted in 124 fatalities on Louisiana’s waterways. Today, the Bayou State has the unfortunate distinction of ranking fifth amongst state with boating-related deaths, despite its 15th position in terms of registered watercraft. Mayne has singled out House Bill 636 by Rep. Nickie Monica, R-LaPlace, as a step in the right direction. It’s a far-reaching measure with several moving pieces, but has two important components that target youngsters. It would raise the age required to wear life preservers from 12 to 16 and rolls back the birth date for required boater safety classes from Jan. 1, 1988, to Jan. 1, 1984. But its central feature would ensure that alcohol-related arrests from the road carry over onto Louisiana’s rivers and lakes. “We want to make sure if somebody has convicted a DWI and has a suspended license that they’re not out there operating watercraft on our state waterways,” Mayne says. Monica’s legislation has already been approved by the full House and is now pending a hearing by the Senate Natural Resources Committee. It could be debated as early as this week and will certainly include a recap of the recent string of accidents and fatalities in South Louisiana. During the Memorial Day holiday, two women were ejected from a boat and injured during a drive on Blood River in Livingston Parish. The boat actually circled back and ran over the victims in this case. Last week, five men participating in a fishing tournament in Dulac died when their boat ran underneath a parked barge. And earlier this month, a ski boat accident on False River took three lives. — Jeremy Alford