Ontario is home to many beautiful freshwater lakes and rivers that make boating with family and friends a pleasurable leisure activity. But a lot can go wrong out on the water, turning a fun day of recreational boating into a tragic nightmare.
Below are some potential safety hazards and ways to avoid them.
Speeding is never safe on the water, as the driver never knows when an obstacle or other boat may appear. The speed of a boat is affected by many factors, including:
— Visibility and weather conditions like rain, mist, fog, dusk and darkness
— The boat’s manoeuvrability
— The presence of swimmers, snorkelers and divers
— Water and wind conditions as well as currents
— Navigational hazards like submerged logs, tree stumps and rocks
— Traffic density on the waterways and the size of other vessels in close proximity in the channels
— The effect of the boat’s wake on smaller watercrafts, docks and even the shoreline
If you are boating and enter a fog bank, be particularly cautious and slow your speed accordingly.
Many completely preventable tragedies occur when recreational boaters include booze as a libation. Drinking while boating jeopardises the safety of not only the one at the helm and all the passengers, but of everyone else out on the water and possibly on shore.
The senses can be dulled by the motion of the boat, wind and sun. Adding alcohol to the mix increases fatigue and reduces fine motor skills like hand-eye coordination that are necessary to pilot the boat safely. Drinking also impairs judgement.
Drinking and boating can lead to criminal convictions, penalties and fines. But a person can face civil repercussions for injuries and deaths from a fatal boating accident. If you lost a family member or spouse to another’s negligent boating actions, you may need to seek the counsel of a personal injury lawyer who can advise you how to proceed.
Source: Transport Canada, "Speed / Alcohol," accessed Aug. 20, 2015