MONETA, Va. – When it comes to staying safe on the water, Smith Mountain Lake runs a tight ship.
“The penalties are the same as the highway,” Department of Wildlife Resources Sergeant James Slaughter said.
10 News tagged along with the Department of Wildlife Resources on patrol, to learn the ropes of boating safety.
Ahead of the Fourth, Slaughter said they’re especially cracking down on drinking and boating.
“Drunk boaters become drunk drivers,” Slaughter said.
He tells us even though you may think you’re in the clear, you’ll still face the same charges as if you were to get a DUI driving a car.
“We come across it more though than we’d like to see,” he said.
You feel the effects of alcohol a lot stronger on water than on land.
“You’re drinking more a lot of times just because you’re thirsty. So a lot of times people lose count because of how quickly they become dehydrated and try to use alcohol to quench that thirst,” he said.
The next safety tip may sound like a broken record to some people, but Slaughter said life jackets truly are the difference between life and death on the lake.
“Why do you think people don’t wear their lifejackets?” 10 News Reporter Abbie Coleman asked.
“Discomfort. Not wearing the correct jacket for your situation,” Slaughter said.
People are required to have a properly fitting life jacket for everyone on their boat. But Slaughter said if you’re not actually wearing them, they won’t help.
“Whether it’s a heavy wave that knocks you off the vessel, whether you’re stepping on the dock and slip because your footing is wet, there’s a lot of reasons why, but you never can dictate exactly what’s going to happen,” he said.
Last year, eight people died in boating related accidents in Virginia. This year, we’re already up to nine.
If you have an accident while boating, Slaughter said to remember, “throw, don’t go.”
“If you’re not sure if you can swim well or not — you never can anticipate when someone is panicked in the water,” he said.
Instead, throw something out to the person in the water, and pull them in.
“You’re gonna be a better help to them on the vessel throwing them something, instead of jumping in and potentially being the second victim,” Slaughter said.