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Mostly Cloudy Tragedy draws call for strict boating laws
Safety on the water
It takes a tragedy to prompt change, said Alan Alterman of East Meadow, and the Oyster Bay boat accident on July Fourth is focusing political and public interest on boating safety laws.
The Kandi Won, a 34-foot cabin cruiser, capsized in the waters of Cove Neck and killed three young passengers, including 11-year-old Harlie Treanor, who had moved with her family from East Meadow to Huntington Station just weeks earlier. Since then, Alterman, the director of New York Boating Safety, a company that offers boating safety classes, has seen a spike in class registration and is among many who are questioning current state laws.
“Taking a boating education class and wearing a life jacket are probably the absolute two biggest things that you can do to have, hopefully, a happy outcome on the water,” Alterman said. However, under current law, anyone 18 or older can buy a boat and head out to sea without taking a safety course. According to a U.S. Coast Guard report, only 11 percent of boating-related deaths occur on boats whose operators have received boating safety instruction. Only 7 percent of deaths occur on vessels whose operators have taken courses approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, such as those offered by the U.S. Power Squadron and New York Boating Safety.
“You could go into a showroom right now, buy a boat, never have experience and go boating,” said South Shore Power Squadron educator Seth Goldstein, of Long Beach.
Goldstein said that like those who drive cars, boaters should learn the rules of safe boating. They should earn licenses before taking the helm, he said.
Boating capacity limits are also being questioned. Under New York state law, boats smaller than 20 feet are required to have a capacity plate listing the maximum number of passengers permitted on board and a maximum weight load.
In the aftermath of the July Fourth tragedy, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer called on the Coast Guard to mandate capacity limits for recreational boats larger than 20 feet and to require that those limits also be posted on board.
