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July 3, 2007

Have fun on the water, roads this 4th -- if you dare

We could make an argument for just staying home this holiday week, given the various news releases we’ve gotten naming the Fourth of July as:

1) the “deadliest day of the year on America’s roadways” (according to the state Department of Transportation and numerous other state departments nationwide) and 2) “not only the busiest boating period of the year, but also … the deadliest, both nationwide and in the Northeast” (according to the U.S. Coast Guard).

If that’s not scary enough to keep you from drinking and driving or drinking and boating -- or driving or boating, period -- perhaps you should think about just having a barbecue in your own backyard.

Or this:

The DOT is urging people who plan to drink this holiday to designate sober drivers; find an alternate ride if you end up drinking without having pre-selected a safe driver; report drunk drivers on the roads; and prevent intoxicated friends and family from getting behind the wheel.

And watch out for those who start the holiday early. Even today and tomorrow follow July 4th closely as some of the most deadly days on America’s roadways, the DOT reports.

The good news: The DOT is reporting that seat-belt use in the Ocean State is the highest it has ever been, with nearly 80 percent of Rhode Islanders seen wearing seat belts during an observational survey taken after Memorial Day weekend.

That was the last time the state police held one of their “Click it or Ticket” campaigns to encourage seat-belt use, according to the DOT.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

That seat-belt use (by 79.1 percent of those in the survey) is up from the reported use after last November's Click it or Ticket campaign, which was 74.2 percent, according to DOT spokesman Charles St. Martin. Those DOT surveys observe drivers on a wide range of roadways and follow recommendations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, St. Martin said.

The Coast Guard reports that an average of 50 people in the Northeast have died annually in recreational boating and paddling accidents over the past nine years. Those not wearing life jackets: 83 percent of those killed.

“Your chance for survival usually comes down to one thing: having your life jacket on when you need it,” said Al Johnson, recreational boating safety specialist for the First Coast Guard District headquarters in Boston, in a statement issued yesterday. “The misconception persists that you can put on a life jacket once you’re in the water. It is extremely difficult to do, and unfortunately for most people immobilized by the shock of sudden immersion, it can be tragically impossible.”

Alcohol use and abuse runs high at this holiday season, the Coast Guard reports. While alcohol is involved in just over a quarter of annual fatal boating accidents in the Northeast, that number jumps to 42 percent during the Fourth of July, the Guard reports.

Posted by Kate Bramson at 7:02 AM | Permalink

July 3, 2007

Have fun on the water, roads this 4th -- if you dare

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