The Auckland City Council voted today to make it compulsory for people in boats less than 6m to wear life jackets. However, if the boat is anchored and the water is calm, the skipper might allow people to take their life jackets off.
The law at the moment says that all boats less than 6m must carry life jackets and they need to be easy to reach if there is an emergency. All children and all non-swimmers must wear a life jacket all the time. If the sea is rough, everyone must put on their life jacket.
Many boaties say that it is smaller boats, less than 4.8m, which are more dangerous. These are usually dinghies with an outboard motor. Most drownings have occurred in these boats. Two years ago, a father and his young son drowned in a boat like that. They were not wearing life jackets.
Vocabulary
• boaties – people who have boats
• anchor (n, v) – an anchor is a heavy piece of metal which you throw in the water to keep a boat in one place
• skipper – driver of the boat, person responsible
• put on – this is one action; first you put on a life jacket then you wear it (keep it on) for a period of time, then take it off.
• dinghy – row boat
• outboard motor – attach it to the boat
• drown (v) – die in the water; drowning – countable noun
Questions
• Why don’t people want to wear a life jacket?
• Is it safe enough to carry life jackets on a boat instead of wearing them?