Boating News
Boating risky on July Fourth
by Henry Miller
There usually is another type of firework that flares on the Fourth of July.
Boating accidents.
"It typically is our high point of the year. It's like New Year's Eve for the other deputies (on the highways)," said Sgt. P.J. Steigleder, a marine patrol deputy with the Clackamas County Sheriff�s office, which provides enforcement on the Willamette Rivers and popular lakes near Portland.
Boating on the Fourth is different in one respect among the major summer holidays.
In addition to the typical problems of alcohol-fueled skippers (and passengers), crowds, fatigue and sunburn-inspired irritability, it's the one time that everyone is driving their boat after dark.
"For a lot of people, this is their first experience of navigating at night," Steigleder said.
"Digging into the stats for last year, while you don't see a lot more fatalities, you do see a lot of collisions," Randy Henry, a spokesman for the Oregon State Marine Board, said about the Fourth.
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