Remarks by

Member George Black,

National Transportation Safety Board

to the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA)

Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, September 14, 1998.

Good morning President Woolley, members of the Executive Board, and to all of you attending this year's NASBLA conference. It is a pleasure to be here today on behalf of the National Transportation Safety Board. NTSB has been working on recreational boating safety for the last 15 years and the Board is committed to further improvements in recreational boating safety. We believe there is a significant opportunity here to save lives and reduce serious injury. For example, last year there were 819 recreational boating fatalities, 16 fatalities in marine cargo transport, and 54 in commercial fishing. By comparison, the total number of fatalities in aviation was 976.

The number of annual fatalities associated with recreational boating has decrease substantially over the past two decades, but there was a disappointing 16 % increase between 1996 and 1997. It is for these reasons that the Safety Board has recreational boating safety issues on our "Most Wanted" Safety Recommendations List.

As you may know, the NTSB's primary tools for improving safety are accident investigations and safety studies to find out what the problems are, Safety Recommendations which prompt action by appropriate parties, and a "Most Wanted List" which focuses attention on the most significant safety recommendations and issues.

In 1983, as a result of a recreational boating safety study, the Board recommended strengthening alcohol and boating laws. At that time, most States simply stated that it was illegal to operate a boat while under the influence - only 3 States defined "under the influence" based on a blood alcohol concentration. Now all but one of the 56 jurisdictions have defined a BAC specifically for boating; in 14 States that alcohol limit has been set at .08, for the others it is .10. This is substantial progress, but we are still working on that issue. Just this year, my home state of Georgia strengthened their Boating Under the Influence (BUI) law. As of June 1^st, the State has adopted a "zero tolerance" level of .02 for boaters under age of 21 and penalties for BUI conviction were increased. We think these laws and their enforcement make boating safer.

In 1993, the Safety Board added support for even more safety improvements when another study recommended that the States implement minimum recreational boating safety requirements. The Board recommended that recreational boat operators demonstrate that they know safe boating rules and have the ability to safely operate their vessel. These requirements for mandatory education and operator licensing have proven to be more difficult to sell to the State legislatures than BUI regulations, but we have made progress.

In a recent survey published in NASBLA's Small Craft Advisory magazine, more than half of all states answered "yes" that they had mandatory education requirements. But we all know that these programs differ widely. For many States the requirements apply to only a limited age range and some use non-proctored exams. And depending on the State, the length of the courses may be an hour or a day.

However, a few States have established firm boating education requirements and require a certificate to operate recreational watercraft. Recent federal legislation should ensure stable funding for State Boating Safety Programs, including education and enforcement. I understand that the NASBLA will be considering policy positions on mandatory education and operator licensing and an improved Model Act for personal watercraft safety later this week.. The Safety Board commends NASBLA's efforts in these areas.

32 States and jurisdictions now have mandatory PFD use for children under the age of 12 and another 11 States have set PFD requirements but only for younger ages. As a minimum, the Safety Board wants the States to implement mandatory PFD use for children, but all recreational boaters should be encouraged to wear PFDs. We have to all work to get the message to every recreational boater that life jackets work when you wear them.

And speaking of working together, I'd like to recognize the numerous cooperative groups that work to make recreational boating safer: the United States Coast Guard, the National Safe Boating Council, the National Water Safety Congress, the National Recreational Boating Safety Coalition, the National Marine Manufacturing Association, Boat/U.S., the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the U.S. Power Squadrons.

The Safety Board recently completed a study of Personal Watercraft Safety. Because the number of PWCs has increased dramatically in the past few years, and because there are distinctly different operating characteristics of these craft, there has been a lot of interest in that study. We are already in our second printing and I think we brought several boxes to distribute here at the conference-Deborah Bruce of the Safety Board staff will be giving a presentation on that study tomorrow during your technical session. As you heard earlier, from Chris Brewster, Chief Lifeguard of Mission Bay, San Diego, 80% of incidents on Mission bay involve PWC.

The safety issues concerning recreational boating, in general, are equally applicable to personal watercraft operations. Operators need education and training. One thing I would like to call to your attention concerns PFD use, personal watercraft are unique because the leading cause of death is not drowning. Our study found that 97% of accident operators were wearing PFDs. The obvious safety lesson cannot be overlooked, PFDs work when used properly.

Looking ahead, I expect to see State legislative activity on personal flotation devices, mandatory education, and personal watercraft operations. We at the Board follow these issues very carefully to see how responsive proposed statutes are to our safety recommendations. Information regarding the Board's work in recreational boating issues can be found on our web site (www.ntsb.gov), including our recent PWC study, Board Members' testimony and speeches, and our Most Wanted Recommendations List.

The Safety Board firmly believes that responsible uniform recreational boating laws provide the greatest safety level for the growing number of American citizens enjoying recreation on the water. Needless to say, your role in this effort is critical. With your continued leadership, effective boating laws and effective enforcement of these laws will keep recreational boating safe for all of us.

Earlier in my presentation, I talked about the tools the Board uses to improve safety. The Board's accident investigation activity provides the primary basis for safety recommendations and related safety improvements, and I'd like to share with you some examples of marine examples we've investigated.

In San Pablo Bay, California in 1992, a small boat swamped in rough weather when the engine wouldn't start after fuel tanks were switched. Five people died. The weather service had issued small craft warnings, and it is unknown if the operator was aware of the forecast. His 0.11 BAC might also have been a factor. More appreciation for weather and perhaps a cell phone or a radio might have prevented this tragedy.

In March of 1997 on Lake Ontario three people went fishing after having been warned of a bad weather forecast including 4 to 6 foot waves. None were wearing PFD's, and none survived the apparent capsizing.

The potential for disaster is not limited to recreational boats. In July of this year a cruise ship caught fire near Miami. This accident is still under investigation, but it looks like sparks from a welding ignited lint in laundry exhaust ducting. The good news is that this ship was built with sprinkler systems in its cabins even though it was constructed a few years before sprinklers were required by law. Although the outside was scorched, the cabin spaces were not compromised, and the steel bulkhead forward of the first four cabins prevented further spread of the fire. No lives were lost.

In 1996, the Julie N tanker struck a bridge in Portland, Maine resulting in over $43 million in damages after the pilot inadvertently gave the wrong rudder order. Even though the order was immediately corrected, the narrow channel provided no room for error, and 4,000 barrels of oil spilled into the harbor. The bridge was in the process of being replaced at the time of the accident, and is no longer there.

The Safety Board remains committed to serve the boating public, and in doing, serve you. We have honored our commitment to you by following up on our Safety Recommendations; we have testified in a number of States at your request, we have kept the intensity on recreational boating focused by placing recreational boating Safety Recommendations on the "Most Wanted" list; and we continually assess the need to do national studies. As you may know, transportation is one of the largest and most dynamic segments of our economy, and the Safety Board, among the smallest of federal agencies, has the large responsibility of examining the performance of multi-billion dollar companies and government regulatory agencies having tens of thousands of employees. I am persuaded that the money spent on the Safety Board - about $50 million a year - is among the most cost effective of all taxpayer expenditures. It costs each citizen about 18 cents a year to fund the my agency, less than to mail a postcard.

On call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the Safety Board investigators travel throughout the country and to every corner of the world to investigate significant accidents, developing a factual record that often leads to safety recommendations aimed at ensuring that such accidents never happen again. More than 80 percent of those recommendations have been adopted over the Board's 31-year history, improving safety in every mode of transportation: aviation, marine, highway, rail, and pipeline.

Thank you for this opportunity to address you today and for all you have done to make our recreational waterways safer. At this time I will be glad to answer any questions that you might have.