“Everyone in this room knows that safe operation of a power boat depends on an understanding of basic boating safety,” said Watson, D-Bath.  “My bill would require anyone who operates a power boat to first demonstrate that basic understanding by either taking an approved safety course or passing a simple test once in his or her lifetime.”

Watson’s bill would ensure that recreational boaters operating on Maine’s waterways possess the minimum boating safety knowledge necessary to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all users of the state’s waterways.  Maine currently has the highest recreational boating fatality rate in New England. In 2007, 16 people died as a result of boating accidents in Maine.

A 2007 study of best practices in boating education by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) disclosed that those states with the longest history of boating education also have the lowest average fatality rates of all the states. Moreover, the longer the education requirements have been in place, the lower the fatality rates have become.

Watson’s bill would be phased-in over an eight-year period, requiring the youngest and least-experienced boaters to either take a locally available or online boating safety course, or demonstrate their knowledge of basic boating safety requirements by passing a standardized test approved by the state of Maine and NASBLA. Older and more experienced boaters would face similar requirements by specific deadlines established in the legislation.

“We know that keeping our waters safe and enjoyable for everyone begins with basic education and safety training,” said Rep. Ben Pratt, D- Eddington, who is a co-sponsor of the bill.  “This legislation will help to ensure people know the basics just like we have done with hunter safety.”

The bill would establish a once-in-a-lifetime boating safety education requirement. Once a person has demonstrated their boating safety competency, they need never repeat the test or class.

“Boating safety on Maine waters begins and ends with the boat operator, and not the boat itself,” said Watson.  “Most of the safety problems on our waters are caused by inappropriate or uninformed behavior, and are not due to the type of boat or its horsepower.  This bill reflects the best of similar laws now in place in 38 other states, and is based on the model developed by the National Association of Boating Safety Law Administrators.”

A recreational boating safety education requirement for Maine is supported by a broad array of groups and organizations including the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the U.S. Power Squadron and its six Maine squadrons, the National Marine Manufacturers Association, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the Personal Watercraft Industry Association, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Maine Department of Marine Resources.  

The U.S. Coast Guard is currently seeking authorization from Congress to mandate boater safety education for states that fail to enact their own boating safety education programs.