Water Patrol set to target permits

This Memorial Day, on one of the busiest boating weekends of the summer, the Missouri State Water Patrol will be scouting for more than just careless and intoxicated boaters.

Officers will also be checking for boater permits, said Capt. Matt Walz, director of training for the water patrol. A law that took effect on Jan. 1, requires that individuals 21 and younger — anyone born after Jan. 1, 1984 — carry permits while operating boats, sailboats and jet skis. Boats that rely on paddles or oars are excluded.

Accident rates in Missouri were the driving force behind the new law, said Sgt. Ralph Bledsoe, director of public information for the water patrol.

Young people who tend to use personal watercrafts, including jet skies, were involved in a disproportionate number of accidents, he said. “The target area that seemed to be having the most accidents was 21 or younger.”

Although the law didn’t take effect until this year, it was passed in 2003. In that year, there were 321 boating accidents; 40 to 50 percent involved personal watercrafts, Bledsoe said. Bledsoe said the water patrol has been circulating information on the law for nearly a year.

But Russ Putnam, one of the owners of Putnam Boat Sales in Columbia, said neither he nor his customers were aware the law was on the books. “It hasn’t been published at all, so nobody knows anything about it,” Putnam said.

Failure to carry a permit is a misdemeanor, but Bledsoe said the patrol will go easy on enforcement for the time being.

“This year is one of education,” Bledsoe said. “Once this program’s rolling, then there may be the possibility that we’ll be writing tickets.”

The law only applies to those operating boats on state waters. That includes the Lake of the Ozarks, one of the most popular Memorial Day destinations.The new law requires that individuals 21 and younger complete a boating safety class and pass the accompanying exam, both approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators.

Bledsoe said boaters must receive an 80 percent on the test to apply for the $15 permit, which goes to the state’s general revenue.

The water patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard offer such classes. Timing depends on how many people sign up and availability of instructors.

An online course is also available on the water patrol’s Web site. Since the law took effect, 15,295 people have taken the boating safety class from the Missouri Water Patrol, Coast Guard or online, the patrol reported, and 2,748 permits have been issued.

The law does not apply to out-of-state boaters until next January, Walz said.

Operators of boats who are younger than 14 must have an adult with them as well as their permit.

For more information on the law or testing, check out the water patrol Web site at www.mswp.state.mo.us or call 573-751-3333.