RadioBite script

July 3, 2002
RadioBite Script

Life Jackets

Track: Be sure to wear your life jacket this Fourth of July weekend. The sheer numbers of boaters make accidents more likely and a life vest can be the difference between life and death. The head of the Minnesota DNR's Boat and Water Safety Program, Kim Elverum, says it's a simple thing to do that can prevent tragedy.

RadioBite #018
:21 Life Jackets, Kim Elverum, DNR Boat and Water Safety

"We could prevent probably 80 to 90 percent of the boating fatalities that we have every year if people wore life jackets, especially in small boats. We've got nine fatalities so far this year and eight of those nine, as an example, could have been saved if they'd worn a life jacket, because they were simple 'capsizing and fall overboard' accidents in small boats and canoes where that life jacket does the most good."

Track: Elverum notes that some of those killed had life jackets or flotation devices in their boat, but weren't wearing them. He says most of us put them on our kids, but too often fail to wear them ourselves.