Director of NSW Maritime Angus Mitchell, said Operation Boatsafe: Don’t risk your life started on Saturday 7 January and will continue until sundown on Sunday 15 January 2017 with Roads and Maritime Services Boating Safety Officers and NSW Police Officers joining forces to randomly stop boaters to promote safe boating behaviour through education and compliance activities.
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Boating Education Officers will also be out at boat ramps and fishing and boating clubs around the State to help boaters with advice and information before they head out on the water.
“The aim is to reduce the number of serious injury and fatal boating incidents on NSW waterways through safety and compliance activities,” Mr Mitchell said.
“Boating Safety Officers and NSW Police will be out in force to ensure the appropriate lifejacket is worn and carried for the intended journey.
“There will be a strong focus on servicing and maintenance of inflatable lifejackets which are very popular with the boating community.
“Inflatable lifejackets must be serviced and certified annually, or in accordance with the manufacturers’ timeframe.
“We find that a lot of people don’t comply with the lifejacket requirement and might be putting their lives at risk if the lifejacket fails to inflate when needed.
“There were quite a few new and amended boating rules which came into effect on 1 July 2016 under the Marine Safety Regulation 2016, including new lifejacket standards and simplified requirements for wearing lifejackets.
“Importantly, canoe and kayak users are now required to wear a lifejacket at all times, rather than when more than 100 metres from the shore as was previously required.
“Safety is paramount on our waterways and boaters should be ensuring they are up to date with requirements for boating safely,”
For more information on boating safety, visit www.rms.nsw.gov.au/maritime