NSW cracks down on boat hire
Spotlight on people hiring boats in a Roads and Maritime Services state-wide campaign to start FridayMaritime Director Tony Middleton said Operation Hire and Drive, which will run until the end of May, will see Boating Safety Officers randomly approach hire-and-drive licensees and hire-and-drive hirers to ensure conditions, instructions and legislative obligations are being maintained.
Mr Middleton said from 1 January 2006 to 31 November 2011, 2206 vessel incidents were reported to RMS. Of these, 78 incidents involved hire-and-drive vessels, representing 3.5 per cent of total incidents.
The 78 reported incidents resulted in six fatalities, nine serious injuries and 15 minor injuries. More than half of these incidents involved houseboats with the other incidents involving a range of vessels including kayaks/canoes, open runabouts and punts.
The main cause of incident was collision, mainly between vessels. There were also a large number of incidents involving collisions with fixed objects.
"The highest proportion of incidents occurred on the Murray River, which is not surprising given the greater number of houseboats in this area and their high frequency of use," Mr Middleton said.
"Hire-and-drive vessels are commercial vessels hired for recreational use, under a survey certificate or a hire-and-drive licence," Mr Middleton said. "These can include anything from houseboats to kayaks.
"These vessels are often used by inexperienced boaters and there are a range of safety conditions which are designed for the protection of the new boater.”
The objectives of the campaign will be threefold:
• To ensure operators are adhering to the safety conditions of their hire and drive licences
• To ensure operators are educated on the need to provide a safety briefing and instructions to the hirer
• To educate customers of their obligations with safety equipment and lifejacket requirements.
Hire and drive licence holders must also keep a register of all vessel hirings for 12 months.
Percentage of hire and drive incidents by region (1 January 2006 to 31 November 2011):
• Murray/Inland -- 38 per cent
• Hawkesbury/Broken Bay -- 24 per cent
• Hunter/Inland -- 17 per cent
• Sydney -- 12 per cent
• North Coast -- 5 per cent
• South Coast -- 4 per cent.
Tags
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
