NTSB Press Release
National Transportation Safety Board
Office of Public Affairs
NTSB CHAIRMAN ENGLEMAN PRESENTS AWARDS TO STATES OF LOUISIANA, PENNSYLVANIA AND TENNESSEE FOR PROMOTING BOATING SAFETY
October 27, 2003
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Ellen G. Engleman today presented the Board's State Advocacy Award to the states of Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. These recipients were recognized at the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators' National Conference for their acceptance and completion of Safety Board recommendations issued to improve recreational boating safety.
"There is no safety benefit to the public unless the recommendations we issue following our investigations and studies are adopted," Engleman said. "By adopting our recommendations on this issue, these states demonstrate that the safety of their recreational boaters is a priority."
The Safety Board recognized these states because of their aggressive pursuit of recreational boating safety. They have implemented a mandatory boating safety education program that eventually will cover all recreational boaters in their state; enacted legislation to require the use of lifejackets by children ages 12 and under; strengthened their boating-while-intoxicated laws to establish a minimum defined blood alcohol concentration at which a boater is considered impaired; and included information on safe operation of personal watercraft in all State recreational boating safety courses.
A 1993 Safety Board's Recreational Boating Safety Study found that only one-in-10 first time boat operators received any voluntary boating safety course. The Board also determined that at least 37 percent of the operators involved in fatal accidents were known to have or were presumed to have consumed alcohol before their accidents, and 85 percent of those who drowned in a boating accident were not wearing personal flotation devices (PFDs).
NTSB Media Contact:
Terry N. Williams
202-314-6100
williat@ntsb.gov
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency charged with determining the probable cause
of transportation accidents, promoting transportation safety, and assisting victims of transportation accidents and their families.
