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"Safety education courses are a key to the Illinois' boating safety
effort. Nationwide, nearly 90 percent of all reported fatalities on
boats involved boat operators who had not received boating safety
instruction," said Sam Flood, acting director of the Department of
Natural Resources. Statistics compiled by the IDNR Office of Law
Enforcement show that 13 people died and 57 were injured in
boating-related accidents on Illinois waters in 2007. That is down
slightly from 2006, when there were 17 fatalities and 66 injuries in
boating-related accidents.
Of the 13 fatalities in 2007, 10 might have survived if personal
flotation devices had been worn.
The leading type of accidents involving fatalities were
collisions with a fixed object and flooding or swamping of a vessel.
As is usually the case, most fatalities occurred on clear, sunny
days with mild winds and good visibility. Alcohol use, along with
operator inattention or carelessness, remains a major cause of
fatalities.
In 2007, operators between the ages of 20 and 59 were involved in
74 percent of boating accidents, and 38 percent of those involved at
least one fatality.
According to a 2006 study by the National Association of State
Boating Law Administrators, states that have the longest history of
boating education requirements also have the lowest average fatality
rates of all the states.
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Illinois has the fourth-longest history of boating education
requirements in the U.S., at 29 years. Four other states have had
boating education requirements in place for more than 20 years --
New York, with 47 years; Michigan, with 40 years; Minnesota, with 32
years; and North Dakota, with 22 years.
"While specific circumstances are different, nearly every boating
accident investigation we do has a common denominator … that the
accident could have been avoided had safety been the focus," said
Rafael Gutierrez, IDNR chief of law enforcement.
People between 12-18 years of age who operate a motorized
watercraft by themselves are required by law to possess a boating
safety certificate. State law also requires that anyone under the
age of 13 must wear a life jacket while aboard any watercraft under
26 feet in length at all times the boat is under way, unless they
are below deck in an enclosed cabin or operating on private
property. And anyone, regardless of age, is required to wear a life
jacket while operating a personal watercraft or jet ski.
Safety course schedules are available at
http://www.dnr.state.il.us/safety/boat.htm. Illinois also offers
an online boat safety education course. There is a $15 fee for the
online course.
[Text
from Illinois
Department of Natural Resources file received from the
Illinois Office of Communication and Information]
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