Boating Safety

The Meeker County Sheriff’s Office hires water safety personnel each summer to help patrol the area lakes. They check registrations, assist boaters, remove debris from the water and look for boating violations.

Sheriff Brian Cruze says the patrols will call in a deputy if there is a violation. He says boating while intoxicated is illegal and it’s a little different than spotting someone who is driving intoxicated on a roadway, but there are indicators.

Sheriff Cruze says intoxication is the leading cause of accidents on waterways, and boaters are exempt from open container laws, but he still recommends that the person driving a boat refrain from alcohol consumption. He says boat passengers under age 10 are required to wear lifejackets and they are to be readily available for all passengers, but he advises all boat passengers to wear them.

Sheriff Cruze says even if you’re a good swimmer, you can be knocked unconscious in a boating accident or injure your limbs – making it impossible to swim, or you could get tangled in weeds. He says boaters should have a fire extinguisher on board, have a horn, lights – which are required to be on from sundown to sunup, and you should have a cell phone which you can use in case of an emergency or to alert you to severe weather.

Sheriff Cruze says his office usually receives numerous fireworks complaints this time of the year and they are still illegal, except for things like sparklers. He says things like firecrackers, Roman candles, and bottle rockets are illegal and when someone tries to fire a shell, it often doesn’t get far off of the ground and it can land on a building and start a fire.