Free Life Preservers To Be Distributed At Smith Mountain Lake This Weekend
May 24, 2012
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 3,000 accidental drownings occur each year in the U.S. WDBJ 7 News says experts believe that 80 percent of those deaths could have been prevented with the use of a personal floatation device, such as a lifejacket.
Knowing these statistics, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is hoping to keep the number of accidents down over Memorial Day weekend by distributing free life preservers at the busy Smith Mountain Lake this coming weekend. The life jackets will be distributed at six different locations:
- Moneta
- Halesford Bridge
- Scruggs Boat Launch
- Penhook
- Anthony Ford
- Penhook Boat Launch
State law requires that each vessel have a life jacket for each passenger on board a boat. Often times though, Sea Tow Owner, Rick Ellett, says that boats have adult size life jackets, but when visitors come to town with children, there are no life jackets on board for their size. He added that this coming weekend, “…we have the sizes for children, youths, and infants.”
Any driver of a boat caught on the water this weekend ill equipped without life preservers will be ticketed.
The Virginia Personal Injury Lawyers with the Skolrood Law Firm suggest you avoid serious injury on the water by making sure you wear your life preserver at all times and ensure that it’s properly fastened before the boat moves.
Tags: Skolrood Law Firm, Virginia Personal Injury Lawyers, Virginia Serious Injury Lawyer, Virginia Wrongful drowning death