Florida Does the Right Thing

No. 1 Boating State Addresses Safety Issues

The State of Florida, with the largest number of recreational boats and highest number of boating deaths annually, has adopted long overdue measures to improve safety on its waterways.

A new state law that becomes effective January 1, 2010, requires boaters born on or after January 1, 1998, to pass a state-approved boating safety course and acquire a boating safety identification card issued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Anyone who was born after January 1, 1988 and buys a boat has 90 days to secure the identification card.

The FWC is offering a free online boating safety course. Boaters who take this course can also obtain the ID card for free.

There are more than 1 million vessels registered in Florida, according to statistics from the FWC. Up to 1 million non-registered boats also actively operate in Florida and this segment of the boating population has been growing rapidly, according to the Commission’s 2008 Boating Accidents Statistical Report.

The report said there were 657 reportable boating accidents and 54 boating related deaths. About 72 percent of the operators involved in accidents had no formal boater education training.

Florida has also strengthened several additional boating-related statutes, most notably involving boating under the influence. The blood-alcohol level or breath-alcohol level has been reduced to 0.15 from 0.20.

To learn more about changes in Florida’s recreational boating laws, visit http://myfwc.com/recreation/boat_index.htm.