New South Carolina Boating Law Strengthens Safety Requirements
South Carolina is currently one of only four US states with no boater education requirements. The new bill will add South Carolina to the majority of states that require boating safety courses for some or all boaters.
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Steinberg Law Firm
Comments from Cruisers (3)
As the article points out, South Carolina is one of only 4 states that did not have a similar training requirement. Whether the boater training is actually adequate or not is open for discussion. IMHO, in person classes done by the Power Squadron or USCG Auxiliary are probably pretty good – the states that only require on-line computer classes that comply with the content standard not so much.
I lived in the Midwest until the mid-90's. My state already had a law back then. And like the South Carolina law, the requirement is for everyone whose birthday is prior to a certain date. Anyone younger than about 45 from my former home has to have had the training by now, or to get it if they acquire a boat.
Since most fatal boat accidents involve excess alcohol, I suspect that you are right that younger boaters in their 20's and 30's are probably involved in a disproportionate share of accidents. Rigorous enforcement of BWI laws would probably have a larger impact on safety than training of young people, but that doesn't make the training requirement a bad idea.
BTW, the USCG publishes statistical data on boating accidents and events like boat fires every year. Look on the Coast Guard website if you want to find it.
As a follow up on my comment last month how about a breakdown on boating accidents by age responsible?
Without that data, we're just blowing smoke and can't be sure we're actually addressing the problem.
Anyone?
I would like to see some STATISTICS on boating accidents/fatalities from states that have these laws and those that don't. And do these laws make a difference? 16 years old or younger? Like driving a car, I suspect many if not most boating accidents are caused by older teenagers and those in their 20s.