A collision between a jet ski and boat Friday on Lake Cumberland brings the total of people killed in boating accidents in Kentucky this year to four. That’s according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Marcus Bowling is a boating education coordinator with the department. His top safety tip: wear a life jacket, which he calls the seatbelt of a boat.
“And I try to get people in the mindset of you need to make it a habit of when the boat’s moving your life jackets on. Just like when you get a car, you click your seatbelt. And that your protection in a boat, we don't have a seatbelt.”
Bowling said while state law doesn’t require boaters to wear lifejackets, they are required for people on jet skis. Another potentially little-known fact: while adults don’t need a license to operate watercraft in Kentucky, children do.
“If you're from the ages of 12 to 17. And you wish to operate a boat, or jet ski, any kind of a vessel that's 10 horsepower or greater, you have to have your boating education course certificate to be able to do that by yourself.”
Bowling said classes can be taken in-person or online on the Fish and Wildlife Resources Department’s website, and the certificates of completion are accepted nationwide.
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