
DATE: Monday, November 10, 1997             TAG: 9711100056

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TONI GUAGENTI, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  101 lines

TOUGHER BOATING RULES CONSIDERED CHANGES SUGGESTED TO STATE AIM TO REDUCE ACCIDENTS, WITH FOCUS ON TEEN-AGE BOATERS.

Virginia wants to make it tougher for young people to operate a boat or personal watercraft.

From January 1993 through September 1997, 17 percent of the accidents in the state involved operators ages 11 to 20.

Although that age group doesn't account for the highest number of accidents, state officials said, targeting younger operators is a good place to start instilling safe habits on the waterways.

Currently no age or certification requirements exist for boat operators in Virginia, and the minimum age for operating a personal watercraft is 14.

The state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries would like to change the law so that anyone younger than 16 would be required to take a certified boating safety course before cruising on personal watercraft or hopping behind the wheel of their parents' vessels.

By teaching younger teen-agers safe boating habits, the state hopes to cut down on the number of accidents, said Charlie Sledd, the department's boating and resource education manager.

The General Assembly earlier this year asked the department to study boating safety because of the rising number of waterway accidents, particularly with personal watercraft, or Jet Skis, a trade name commonly used to refer to the craft.

Change may be on the way.

``We're looking at trying to provide some incentives for education,'' Sledd said.

The first step is requesting that the age for operating personal watercraft and boats be changed to 16.

Under the department's proposed recommendations, young people under 16 could operate a boat if they passed a certified safety course.

The regulations would be slightly different for personal watercraft because operators cannot be younger than 14 regardless of training.

Youths 14 or 15 could use a personal watercraft if they had passed a certified safety course.

The state isn't the only one in the middle of a debate on singling out and regulating personal watercraft.

Virginia Beach found itself in the fray this summer after more than a dozen personal-watercraft accidents, none of which was fatal.

A city committee, separate from the state's study group, is finishing its look at personal watercraft so it can make recommendations to the General Assembly on ways to tighten regulations.

The Jet Ski Advisory Commission was formed in September after Vice Mayor William D. Sessoms Jr. unsuccessfully called for a temporary ban on the craft. Instead, the City Council decided to form the nine-member board, which held a public hearing on the issue two weeks ago.

The majority of people who spoke at the hearing suggested that mandatory education be required of personal watercraft operators.

Many states throughout the country have adopted mandatory education or licensing requirements for the propeller-less watercraft.

Last year, Sledd said, personal watercraft constituted 6 to 7 percent of the state's registered boats but were involved in 35 percent of boating accidents. One reason could be that the craft are in motion more than are regular boats, he said.

Sessoms said he will strongly recommend mandatory education for anyone at any age to use a personal watercraft.

Del. Harry R. ``Bob'' Purkey, a Virginia Beach Republican and commission member, said he already has a bill ready for the 1998 legislative session that would increase the minimum operating age on such watercraft to 16.

Sledd said the state's study couldn't conclude whether having mandatory education and/or licensing had an impact on decreasing the number of personal watercraft accidents. The study looked at the 21 states that either have mandatory education and/or licensing.

``Our contention is we've had some success with voluntary education,'' Sledd said. ``We think that's making a difference.''

Game and inland fisheries officials also are looking at specific regulations aimed at addressing reckless operation of personal watercraft.

The department is recommending that the definition of reckless operation be expanded to include behavior such as weaving through congested traffic and following another boat or skier so close as to endanger them should they stop or fall.

That recommendation stems from a boater survey conducted by the department this year of 1,939 registered boat owners and 110 boating organizations.

The survey asked boaters whether the law should require that all people who operate motorboats complete six to eight hours of boating safety education.

A majority - 58 percent of the registered boaters and 86 percent of the organizations - said yes.

Nonetheless, the department decided against recommending mandatory education for everyone.

``Boating is still a voluntary, recreational, leisure-time thing to do,'' Sledd said. ``You're voluntarily becoming a boater - how about voluntarily coming to a boating safety education class?

``That's been one of the messages we preach all the time.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo Virginian-Pilot/File photo

Albert Fam of Oceanfront Water Sports offers safety instructions to

Denise Canissario, center, and Aimee Murto near 32nd Street in

Virginia Beach.

[Side Bar]

Recommendations to State

For complete copy, see microfilm KEYWORDS: JET SKI WATER SCOOTER PERSONAL WATER CRAFT

REGULATION