Boating Safety Advocates Remind Boaters to 'Wear It!' During National Safe Boating Week

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - May 5, 2014) - Boating safety advocates across the U.S. and Canada are teaming up to promote safe and responsible boating, including consistent life jacket wear each and every time boaters are on the water, during National Safe Boating Week, held from May 17-23, 2014.

National Safe Boating Week is the official launch of the 2014 North American Safe Boating Campaign. This yearlong campaign promotes safe and responsible boating and the value of voluntary life jacket wear by recreational boaters through the national theme, Wear It!

"Every day I hear about the grim consequences of not wearing a life jacket while boating," said Rachel Johnson, executive director of the National Safe Boating Council, the lead organization for the Wear It! campaign. "You can still have fun on the water while choosing to always wear a life jacket and boating responsibly."

The National Safe Boating Council created a new public service announcement, "Love the Life!," sharing the experience of two families and a dog as they spend the day boating and fishing. It was produced at the Eckerd College Waterfront Program in St. Petersburg, Florida, with the support of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 7-2, Division 7. Watch the PSA at http://www.youtube.com/user/OutreachNSBC.

U.S. Coast Guard statistics show that drowning was the reported cause of death in almost three-fourths of recreational boating fatalities in 2012, and that 85 percent of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets.

"Accidents on the water happen much too fast to reach and put on a stowed life jacket," said John Johnson, chief executive officer of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. "It's important that everyone consistently wears a life jacket while on the water and always boats responsibly."

The North American Safe Boating Campaign unites the efforts of a wide variety of boating safety advocates, including the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, Canadian Safe Boating Council and many members of the National Safe Boating Council. The campaign is produced under a grant from the Sports Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, administered by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Share your boating story at SafeBoatingCampaign.com, and follow Wear It! at twitter.com/BoatingCampaign and facebook.com/SafeBoatCampaign.