Small boat safety review

Press, 4 July 1978, Page 17

Small boat safety review

Boating and small boat safety dominated most of the annual delegates’ conference of the New Zealand Water Safety Council held in Wellington.

The conference was attended by delegates from about 40 of the 47 regional committees. During the one and half day conference most of the delegates expressed concern at the many deaths occurring each year as a result of boating accidents. Approximately one-third of the annual drownings are' a result of boating accidents, and the delegates commended the national executive’s decision to concentrate more this year on educating and encouraging the public to take more care and more responsible attitudes in boats. The council has combined its publicity campaign this year with the Small Boat Safety Committee and will be aiming about half the total publicity and education programmes at owners of small pleasure craft, yachts and trailer-sailers. As well, a film on small boat safety is to be prepared, a course in boating is being compiled, other resource material will be published, and a competition aimed at boat owners will be run in boating centres from October.

One of the remits passed asks all manufacturers and dealers in any type of small boat to display capacity plates in all their boats. They should indicate the number of passengers or total weight the boat can safely carry and the maximum horsepower. Another remit, from the North Shore branch of the council, urges the Department of Education to give priority to the construction of all-weather swimming; pools at teachers’ colleges.! This is to ensure that all I student teachers are given instruction in the “art” of teaching swimming and rescue techniques as well as instruction on other popular aquatic activities. During the conference a representative of the Accident Compensation Commission announced the commission’s decision to make at grant of $30,000 to the! Water Safety Council. This, is an increase of $5OOO over! the grant made by the corn-! mission to the council last] year. The executive director ofi the council, Mr Mike Frohl-! ich, sa.d he had been ex-1 tremely encouraged by the[ enthusiastic and ambitious! programmes carried out by! committees in the past year, and by their plans for the! coming year. 1