If all goes as planned, a group of Lake Gaston folks expect to spend part of today (Jan. 24) in Richmond, Va., testifying before a General Assembly committee regarding the need for mandatory boating safety courses for watercraft operators in the Old Dominion.
And, if they get their way with some sort of legislation passed in Virginia, they plan to set their sights on doing the same in North Carolina.
The local folks are part of a Virginia-wide alliance pushing for mandatory boating safety education courses for all watercraft operators. Exceptions would be granted, under the bill being considered in the Virginia House of Delegates, in a number of cases.
Among those exceptions are folks who pass a safe boating examine without taking the course; holds a license to operate a vessel issued to maritime personnel, such as those issued to U.S. Coast Guard personnel; to folks who have purchased a boat within the past 90 days; and folks who are renting a boat.
The legislation, if approved, would provide for a year for the state to work out the details of enforcement, then phase in the new regulations over a period of seven years. A violation would be considered a Class 4 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $250.
This is the second year a boating safety course has been introduced in the Virginia General Assembly. Last year, it was referred to committee and never again saw the light of day.
This year’s bill, introduced by Del. Kathy J. Byron and Del. Allen W. Dudley, has also been referred to committee. Unlike last year, the Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources plans to at least conduct a public hearing on the measure.
Pete Deschenes, representing the Lake Gaston Association (LGA), said his group is one of a number of agencies who are members of the Virginia Safe Boating Alliance. Among the others in the group pushing for the boating regulations are the Smith Mountain Lake Association, The Lake Gaston Water Safety Council, the National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Deschenes explained the LGA first looked at targeting North Carolina for similar measures, but found work in the state to be a challenge.
“There are some laws customized to local lakes, but they are not enforced by the North Carolina Wildlife Commission,” he said. “They are enforced by local sheriff’s offices.”
Believing that local regulations really were of little use, he said the LGA contacted the Smith Mountain Lake Association in Virginia.
After a number of meetings, the two associations found some common ground, and joined with the other groups to form the Virginia Safe Boating Alliance with the aim of getting mandatory safe boating courses for watercraft operators approved as state law.
“There is some form of boating education required in 35 states,” he said, expressing some dismay at the lack of such legislation in Virginia and North Carolina.
“Seventy percent of boating fatalities occur (in situations) where here has been on safety training,” he said, citing statistics compiled by the U.S. Coast Guard. He also pointed out recent moves by some states to enact mandatory boater safety education courses. Alabama, for instance, enacted such legislation and fatal boating accidents fell by 50 percent shortly thereafter.
“Some people will oppose this, will say recreational boating is there right,” he said. But, he said this doesn’t limit anyone’s right to take part in the activity, it merely requires some safety training for boat operators.
Jean McCarter, with the Brunswick County Lake Gaston Water Safety Committee, said the legislation proposed in Virginia will not give officers the right to stop a boater solely to check on for documentation showing the operator has passed the course.
But, she said, “If they’re doing a safety inspection, they’ll check. If they’re (boat operators) stopped for something else, they will check.”
Admitting that isn’t a guarantee every one operating a boat without passing the safety course, Deschenes said it’s considerably better than no safety regulations, as now exists.
While Deschenes and the other folks pushing for the new law are hopeful, they are also realistic in know it may take going back to the General Assembly year after year before finally seeing new laws on the books.
Part of the challenge, he said, is that the Virginia General Assembly can be slow to enact change.
Another challenge is while the groups has widespread support among some sectors of Virginia, it does not have uniform backing. Saltwater fishermen working the Chesapeake Bay and coastal regions of the state don’t have a unified voice to speak to the issue. Because of past troubles, those same fishermen and recreational boaters in the Bay are wary of any alliance that includes the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
And even among the lake alliances, there are fissures. State Sen. Stephen D. Newman has filed a bill in the Virginia Senate requiring a safety course for boat operators, but his bill applies only to inland lakes which are wholly located in Virginia.
Deschenes said that bill is written solely with Smith Mountain Lake in mind, and does nothing for Lake Gaston.
“We’re not supporting that bill,” he said.
Still, he said the alliance is optimistic something might be hammered out in the General Assembly, if not this year, then next when the governing body will be in a longer session, giving lawmakers more time to consider the bill.
And if the bill meets success, he said enacting similar legislation in North Carolina will move toward the top of his agenda.
He’s already spoken with several legislators in that state who, he said, gave no indication they would resist such a move.
“They are looking for someone to provide the model legislation and the infrastructure (to enforce the law), he said.
The Safe Boating Alliance, at least the North Carolina and Lake Gaston area members, hope their efforts in Virginia do just that.