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Contact: Deborah Turcotte, Spokesperson
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
284 State Street
41 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333

Telephone: work (207) 287-6008 cell (207) 592-1164

Fax: (207) 287-6395

May 21, 2008

Maine Warden Service Urges Safety This Boating Season

Augusta – In an attempt to reduce the number of boat-related fatalities this year, the Maine Warden Service is urging boaters to use common sense this summer by obeying state laws and practicing safe boating skills.

Last year, 16 people died in boat-related incidents, tying 2005 as the year with the most deaths on Maine’s inland waterways.

To commemorate National Boating Safety Week, which runs through this upcoming Memorial Day weekend, the Maine Warden Service is promoting a message of safety while alerting the public that law enforcement details will be stepped up on lakes and ponds where observations of unsafe boating generate a high number of complaints.

A startling statistic from a Massachusetts-based research institute shows that less than 2 percent of Maine adults were life jackets, according to Maine Warden Service Colonel Joel Wilkinson. The national rate is more than double that.

“Maine law does not require that people over the age of 10 years wear a life jacket, but common sense should,” Wilkinson said. “Most boat incident-related drownings occur because victims weren’t wearing personal flotation devices. They are proven to save lives and by wearing one you increase your chances of survival if you are in a mishap.”

Besides promoting the use of personal flotation devices through an education campaign, the Maine Warden Service is stressing once again safety tips that have been this law enforcement branch’s mantra for years: Don’t drink while boating; don’t speed; and observe all boating laws.

The state’s boating regulations are listed in the Boating Law Book that is produced by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and is available at licensing and registration agents, town offices and at the Department.

“Obeying the law is in everyone’s best interests,” said Maine Warden Service Major Gregory Sanborn, who manages field operations. “We cannot stress enough that the life that is saved may be your own or a family member’s.”

The Maine Warden Service is partnering with other state law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Safe Boating Council, the U.S. Boat Owners Association, the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators and other groups to promote its safety message this year.

Boating law compliance and adult life jacket usage are the two key elements of that message.

“Every year we are reminded of the importance of putting a life jacket on a child,” said Maine Warden Service Lt. Adam Gormely, who is the Service’s boat safety coordinator. “In Maine, 87 percent of children under the age of 13 are wearing life jackets while out on boats, but 13 percent of children are not. Adults need to teach children of the importance of personal flotation devices by putting one on the youngster – and by putting one on themselves. The best way for an adult to teach a child about safety is for the youngster to see an adult wearing a life jacket. Children learn from the strong examples you set.”

Today’s life jackets no longer are the bulky ones that many boaters believed were too cumbersome and restrictive, Lt. Gormely said. Manufacturers have come up with inflatable personal flotation devices that vary in size – including some that are as small as a fanny pack.

“Most of the new inflatable personal flotation devices have been proven to be more effective in saving lives than traditional life jackets,” Lt. Gormely said. “They are highly visible, they can turn some wearers face up faster than traditional life jackets with an inflatability feature, and they will keep most unconscious users face up.”

This year, the Maine Warden Service continues its partnership with McDonalds to promote youth life-jacket use. McDonalds is sponsoring the Service’s “Flotation Citation” campaign by providing coupons for free “Apple Dippers” or a “Fruit-N-Yogurt Parfait” that will be distributed by wardens who observe children wearing personal flotation devices.

Resources:

To learn about which life jackets are best suited to certain boating activities, visit the Personal Flotation Device Manufacturers Association at www.pfdma.org

For information on boating safety, visit the National Safe Boating Council at www.safeboatingcouncil.org

For information on personal flotation device boating laws, visit the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators at www.nasbla.org.

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