20250SR__003998ENR INTRODUCED 2025-04-21 PASSED_SENATE 2025-05-19 ENROLLED 2025-05-20 2025 SR ENR Introduced by Senator Richardson LEAD_AUTHOR SENATE Richardson Relative to National Safe Boating Week. National Safe Boating Week

WHEREAS, The Department of Parks and Recreation estimates that 4,000,000 Californians engage in boating, fishing, and other recreational activities on California’s navigable waters; and

WHEREAS, The Division of Boating and Waterways estimates that Californians own 2,600,000 registered and nonregistered recreational boats; and

WHEREAS, In 2023, the United States Coast Guard counted boating accidents in California that involved deaths, 164 injuries, and approximately $4,600,000 of damage to property as a result of recreational boating accidents; and

WHEREAS, The majority of accidents are caused by human error or poor decisions, not by the boat, equipment, or environmental factors; and

WHEREAS, Alcohol use remains the leading contributing factor in all fatal boating accidents at 14 percent; and

WHEREAS, Operator inattention and inexperience are also leading contributing factors in mishaps, annually causing hundreds of accidents and dozens of fatalities; and

WHEREAS, Navigation rule violations were a contributing factor in 53 percent of accidents, 34 percent of deaths, and 60 percent of injuries in 2023; and

WHEREAS, Eighty-seven percent of reported boating accident victims who drowned in were not wearing life jackets; and

WHEREAS, A significant number of boaters who lose their lives by drowning each year would be alive today had they worn their life jackets; and

WHEREAS, Boating safety courses and boating safety campaigns can teach people how to adhere to better boating practices and make safer decisions; and

WHEREAS, United States Coast Guard statistics show that, of the accidents where the level of operator education was known, 75 percent of boating deaths occurred on boats where the boat operator had never received boating education instruction; and

WHEREAS, The United States Coast Guard considers the use of engine cut-off switches by powerboat operators important because powerboat propellers may injure persons in the water when operators are ejected or fall overboard;

now, therefore,

be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate recognizes May through May 23, 2025, inclusive, as National Safe Boating Week, and the start of a year-round effort to promote safe boating in California; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.