Life Jacket Wear Initiative To Target Central Tennessee
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, May 20, 2008 – The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) Boating Division announced today that it will partner with the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Safe Boating Council, and other national groups to increase life jacket wear among recreational boaters in Central Tennessee. The campaign – dubbed “Wear It Tennessee!” – will launch on Memorial Day weekend. A similar initiative, now entering its second year in the San Joaquin Delta region of California, resulted in a near-doubling of life jacket wear rates last summer.
“We’re very pleased that Central Tennessee was selected for this campaign, said TWRA boating education coordinator Betsy Woods. “Tennessee – because of all our lakes and rivers – ranks with coastal states like California, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida among the top five states in the nation for recreational boating fatalities due to drowning. We’ve made great progress, but we need to bring those numbers down.”
Life jackets are considered the single best way to reduce recreational boating deaths, but only if boaters and anglers habitually wear them instead of simply carrying them on the boat. According to 2006 statistics released by the U.S. Coast Guard, close to 90 percent of boaters who drowned were not wearing life jackets.
The “Wear It Tennessee!” effort will use a full range of marketing strategies and tools, including radio and theater advertising, signage at boat ramps and marinas, and events. A new, customized Yamaha AR-230, donated by the company and manned by trained staff, will cruise lakes and waterways including Percy Priest Lake, throughout the summer. 1,200 inflatable life jackets will be given away, free of charge, to boaters who pledge to wear them at all times while boating. The main kick-off event will be at Elm Hill Marina on Percy Priest Lake, May 24, 2008 at 12 noon.
“Wear It Tennessee!” will stress the advantages of modern styles of life jackets. Unlike the traditional orange “horse collar,” today’s life jackets are lightweight, comfortable, less restrictive, and more unobtrusive. Styles custom-made for activities ranging from cruising and fishing to skiing and paddling are widely available.
“We’re concentrating a lot of effort in a relatively small area so we can really break through to boaters’ consciousness,” comments John Malatak, Chief, Program Operations Branch, U.S. Coast Guard Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety. “It’s great that the TWRA is stepping up to the plate to make ‘Wear It Tennessee!’ happen.”
“The statistic we want to see is – #1 in life jacket wear,” adds Woods. “So ‘Wear It, Tennessee!’”
For more information on the Tennessee initiative, visit www.WearItTennessee.com or call (615) 781-6601.