With the height of boating season now upon us, we wanted to remind all of our readers about some important boating laws that affect Rhode Island anglers.
For starters, wearing a life jacket while paddling in Rhode Island is not optional; it is required. The “mandatory personal flotation device (PFD) wear for all paddle craft” rule is one of five safety regs that went into effect in 2023 that are often forgotten by recreational paddlers. These rules have been written to save lives. Violations could result in a $100 ticket. The PFD reg states that all operators and passengers of canoes, kayaks, sailboards, kiteboards, paddleboards, and any other paddle craft, must always wear a United States Coast Guard (USCG)-approved PFD while underway regardless of age.
Between 2018 and 2021, four out of the 10 boating-related drowning deaths in the state were paddle craft users not wearing life jackets, according to National Association of State Boating Law Administrators data. Additionally a United States Coast Guard (USCG) report stated that eight out of 10 boaters who drowned were using vessels less than 21-feet in length. Smaller vessels such as canoes and kayaks are less stable than larger vessels and in strong currents paddlers using them can put themselves in danger. Drowning is the reported cause of death in 75% of all boating fatalities. Of those who drowned, 86% were not wearing life jackets.
“[These regulations] are a direct result of the totally preventable paddle craft tragedies that Rhode Island has experienced in the past five years,” said Captain Michael Schipritt, Division of Law Enforcement (DLE) Boating Safety Coordinator in 2023. “There is no time to put a life jacket on [during] a paddling accident. It’s like trying to buckle your seatbelt before a car crash.”
Most boating fatalities are the result of capsizing or falls overboard, not collisions between boats running at high speed. Experts recommend that people who end up in the water stay with the boat, even if they can’t get back in. They are more likely to be seen by potential rescuers if they are next to a boat. A person should only swim for shore if wearing a life jacket, the likelihood of rescue is low, or they are close to shore and aren’t able to climb back into or on top of the boat.
“The key is the life jacket,” Schipritt said. “A person who suffers swimming failure or loss of consciousness will stay afloat wearing a life jacket but will drown without one.”
Another important regulation that could prevent injuries and save lives is a restriction prohibiting anyone from riding on the bow of a powerboat unless it’s equipped with bow seats designed to prevent passengers from hanging their feet and legs over the top of the gunwale anywhere on the boat while underway. “Every summer, DLE marine patrols respond to at least one accident involving too many passengers, often children, on the bow of a boat upsetting the balance on the boat and the boat taking on water, or a child dangling their legs over the top of the bow and getting pulled into the water if the boat goes through a high boat wake,” said Schipritt. “These incidents are preventable.”
We also want to remind boaters about the rule that requires boaters to slow down and move over when emergency vessels — such as Coast Guard, firefighting, harbormaster, and DEM boats – are within 300 feet of the boater and have their emergency lights activated. A fourth regulation requires all fire extinguishers on boats to abide by their age expiration date. Typically, the date of manufacture is printed on the bottom of the fire extinguisher.
These life-saving laws have been implemented because of prolonged incident of injuries and lives lost in Rhode Island waters and law enforcement takes these rules very seriously, and will be on patrol this summer and writing tickets to those who fail to comply. For more information on these and other boating or paddlecraft laws, please visit www.dem.ri.gov.
