A Chapter of the Nebraska State SAFE KIDS Coalition
Serving Ogallala, Keith County, Lake McConaughy and the surrounding area.
Protecting kids from their number one killer—unintentional injury.

Memorial Day weekend is often the traditional kick off to the recreational boating season, and nationally May 21-27 is recognized as National Safe Boating Week.  This event should remind us all to exercise caution when boating.

SAFE KIDS of the Sandhills chapter president Scott Eveland reminds boaters that Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest boating weekends of the season, and it is important to keep kids as well as adults safe on the water.

Parents are encouraged to insist that their children wear life jackets when in or near the water, and the law requires children under 13 years of age to wear a life jacket when in a boat. The law also requires that a life jacket be readily accessible for each person in the boat.

Boat drivers must be at least 14 years old and persons under the age of 18 must have their boating safety certification card with them when they operate a boat, jet ski or other personal watercraft.

To help reinforce these two safety points, SAFE KIDS of the Sandhills has received a grant from the National Safe Boating Council to promote the theme “Kids Don’t Float…And They Don’t Drive the Boat.”  Through the grant, a number of various items will remind boaters of this important message.

Eveland, who is also a boating safety officer for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, reminds parents that often the easiest way to get kids to wear a life jacket is to role model the safe behavior by wearing their own life jacket.  “With today’s modern life jackets, there are many sizes and styles that are comfortable for continual wear on any type of watercraft,” he adds.

Parents are cautioned that some types of swimwear with built in flotation are not safe for use on a boat, and that parents should be sure that children use life jackets that are the proper size and labeled to indicate that they meet Coast Guard standards.

In addition to the “Kids Don’t Float…And They Don’t Drive the Boat” campaign, SAFE KIDS of the Sandhills will again use the popular life jacket reward program.  Game and Parks staff and others will hand out tee-shirts with the message “I got caught wearing my life jacket at Lake McConaughy” to kids at the Lake.  Donations are needed to help keep this program running through the summer.

Other boating safety tips for people to remember include:

• Be aware of the forecast and keep informed during times of changing weather patterns. If the weather looks threatening, get off the lake and get out of your boat.

• In addition to lightning, storms may also produce heavy winds that can cause boats to capsize. Most boating fatalities occur either because of boats capsizing or occupants falling overboard.

• Boaters should remember that vessels are prohibited from exceeding speeds of more than five miles per hour whenever they are within 30 yards of any other vessel, harbor, marina, landing pier, fishing pier, anchorage or bathing beach. It is also illegal for personal watercraft to jump the wake of any boat at a distance of less than 50 yards or the wake of any boat that is towing someone.

• Common boating accidents are collisions with another boat or an object in the water, fire or explosion, passengers falling overboard or grounding. Boaters are encouraged to wear life jackets, stay alert and refrain from drinking alcohol while operating any watercraft.  In addition, boaters are reminded that boat ramps most likely will be heavily used during the holiday weekend and that mutual respect and patience will make the weekend more enjoyable for everyone.

The SAFE KIDS of the Sandhills is part of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, the first and only national non-profit organization dedicated solely to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury—the number one killer of children ages 14 and under. The Campaign is made up of more than 300 state and local SAFE KIDS coalitions in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.  For more information on SAFE KIDS of the Sandhills, visit www.wcdhd.org/sandhills.  Other boating safety resources can be found at www.outdoornebraska.org/boating and www.safeboatingcouncil.org.