05-08-2008, 11:10 AM
COLUMBUS, OH - In an effort to better educate the state's recreational boaters about the importance of wearing life jackets, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Watercraft today announced its "Wear It, Ohio!" campaign.
<br>The campaign will focus on boaters at four state park lakes: Portage Lakes near Akron, Salt Fork Lake near Cambridge, Buck Creek near Springfield and Caesar Creek Lake near Lebanon. The eight-week campaign kicks off May 17 in connection with National Safe Boating Week.<br>
<br>"Our goal is to conduct an awareness campaign that will increase the voluntary wearing of life jackets by adults in open motorboats on these four inland lakes," said Emily King, manager of the division's Public Information and Education Section.<br>
<br>Wear It, Ohio! invites boaters to visit with Division of Watercraft staff and volunteers at selected boat ramps on the four targeted lakes for a chance to answer boating safety education questions and win promotional prizes.<br>
<br>The campaign also features a life jacket loaner program. Boaters age 18 and older, who sign a life jacket wear pledge card and follow its rules, will receive a new inflatable life jacket for use this summer. The pledge promises that the life jacket be returned to the division by October 31.<br>
<br>While most adults comply with state law that requires lifejackets for those riding jet-propelled personal watercraft or those being towed by a boat, fewer than one in seven adult Ohio boaters voluntarily wear a U.S. Coast Guard approved life jacket while riding in a boat, according to observations made by state watercraft officers. Wear it, Ohio! aims at changing attitudes toward life jackets.<br>
<br>Wear It, Ohio! was developed in partnership with the National Safe Boating Council. The council reports approximately 90 percent of all boating-related fatalities result from drowning and that 70 percent of these drowning victims were not properly wearing an approved life jacket or other personal flotation device. In Ohio, 14 persons died last year in boating-related incidents. Twelve of those 14 victims were not wearing life jackets.<br>
<br>Additional information about the campaign is available at ohiodnr.com
<br>The campaign will focus on boaters at four state park lakes: Portage Lakes near Akron, Salt Fork Lake near Cambridge, Buck Creek near Springfield and Caesar Creek Lake near Lebanon. The eight-week campaign kicks off May 17 in connection with National Safe Boating Week.<br>
<br>"Our goal is to conduct an awareness campaign that will increase the voluntary wearing of life jackets by adults in open motorboats on these four inland lakes," said Emily King, manager of the division's Public Information and Education Section.<br>
<br>Wear It, Ohio! invites boaters to visit with Division of Watercraft staff and volunteers at selected boat ramps on the four targeted lakes for a chance to answer boating safety education questions and win promotional prizes.<br>
<br>The campaign also features a life jacket loaner program. Boaters age 18 and older, who sign a life jacket wear pledge card and follow its rules, will receive a new inflatable life jacket for use this summer. The pledge promises that the life jacket be returned to the division by October 31.<br>
<br>While most adults comply with state law that requires lifejackets for those riding jet-propelled personal watercraft or those being towed by a boat, fewer than one in seven adult Ohio boaters voluntarily wear a U.S. Coast Guard approved life jacket while riding in a boat, according to observations made by state watercraft officers. Wear it, Ohio! aims at changing attitudes toward life jackets.<br>
<br>Wear It, Ohio! was developed in partnership with the National Safe Boating Council. The council reports approximately 90 percent of all boating-related fatalities result from drowning and that 70 percent of these drowning victims were not properly wearing an approved life jacket or other personal flotation device. In Ohio, 14 persons died last year in boating-related incidents. Twelve of those 14 victims were not wearing life jackets.<br>
<br>Additional information about the campaign is available at ohiodnr.com