The Coral Gables Times

[?]com[?], curbing "hot-rudders" (first with warnings, then arrests), and assisting boatmen, swimmers, or skiers in distress. That was in 1955. Since then only six persons have drowned on the lake-one less than in the single year before the patrol. Oakland County, Mich., with 427 lakes inside its borders and the entire Detroit metropolitan area within easy driving distance, felt the water-recreation explosion early. Cars were lined up for six blocks near boat-launching sites. In one season the county had 27 drownings. Cottage-owner associations decided in 1958 that action was overdue and approached Sheriff Frank Irons. "I can't get funds," he said. "But if we can get volunteers, I'll screen out the half-interested, and we'll train the others." Now Oakland County has one of the nation's finest water patrols. As in similar groups, from Maricopa County, Ariz., to Hamilton, Mass., the men donate time, money, and the use of their boats. They meet weekly for training in law, boatmanship, safety, and public relations. Oakland businessmen have provided bonding fees, an ambulance, a mobile disaster-unit trailer, two-way radios, even 22 new model boats and outboard engines at factory cost. And thanks to a recently adopted Michigan law, the state matches funds that counties earmark for boating law enforcement, enriching Irons' waterways budget by $5000 a year. THE RESULT? In spite of lake traffic so heavy, as one resident says, "you can walk across without getting a foot wet," Oakland, last summer, had no boating fatalities and three-fourths fewer complaints of recklessness or unsafe operation than before. Patrolmen rescued more than a dozen persons in danger of drowning. They issued 1000 warning tickets (one-fourth the number required the first year). Sixty arrests were made-for cases so flagrant that every one was upheld in court. Wisconsin, with its huge small-boat and tourist population, now takes to the air with planes to enforce safety. When Conservation Department warden-pilots spot an accident or violation, they radio a boat- and trailer-equipped warden on the ground, take photos for evidence, and circle until their colleague arrives. Using loudspeakers, the pilots also warn of dangerous conditions or emphasize safety procedures for boaters below. "Once you've heard that voice from the sky," says Chief Warden George Hadland, "you never forget it." Such local efforts to control the waterways were given support by a 1958 Federal boating law, the Bonner Act. It called for state or Federal numbering of most craft (so reckless operators for the first time can be identified), nationwide reporting of all accidents, and personal liability for reckless or negligent operation. Four-fifths of our states have implemented this with their own laws. In six you can now be sentenced specifically for waterway homicide and manslaughter. In 24 states, if you're reckless, you're liable even for damages resulting from your craft's wake. BUT SAFE BOATING requires more than legal protection against recklessness. Half of all boating deaths, statistics show, are due to incompetence. In one state on one holiday, for example, deaths resulted from standing in a fishing boat, towing a water skier without a companion as observer, starting an outboard with the gears engaged, cramming ten persons into an 11-foot boat, and a collision while cruising at night with no one at the wheel. All occurred in good weather and calm water. Nowhere in the country is a driver's license or even a nautical knowledge test required of pleasure boaters. As of this spring only two states, Nebraska and New York, specifically ruled child boaters off the waters, New York including the requirement of a training course before youngsters ten to 14 can go boating alone. Only one-tenth of all boaters, one authority estimated, ever have taken any approved training. The U.S. Power Squadrons and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, however, are increasing their coverage-175,000 boaters took this voluntary training last year. Coast Guard stations in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, and elsewhere have telecast a series on good boatmanship. And boating clubs in hundreds of localities have sponsored free schools and dockside question-answer sessions. One of the most powerful in impact, a Safety Day and tour of a Continued on page 26 Suburbia Today, June 1961 25

NEW! dish-washer all Guarantees the most spot-free dishes any dishwasher can wash!

Not even hand-polishing gets glassware, dishes and silver more sparkling than new Dishwasher all. Over half a million dishwasher owners are proving this every day with shining clean glasses that formerly were left spotted or streaked. Prove it yourself - this week! Recommended by dishwasher manufacturers Lever Brothers Company guarantees satisfaction or your money back