Take a Boating Safety Education Course March 18-24

No-Cost BoatUS Foundation online course offered for 36 states

ANNAPOLIS, Md., March 14, 2018 – Next week, Mar. 18-24, is a great time to take a boating safety course. Why? It’s perfect timing just before the start of the boating and fishing season and the week-long ‘Spring Aboard’ public service campaign makes it easy for boaters to take a boating safety course. The educational effort is a partnership of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA), government, and nonprofit partners including the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water.

The BoatUS Foundation offers a no-cost NASBLA and state-approved online boating safety course for 36 states at BoatUS.org/Free. The course fits into busy schedules, allowing boaters to stop, and then start again where they left off any time of day or night, and is loaded with interactive animations, videos and photos to give boaters an education that goes well beyond the basics of boating. Upon successful passage course takers can easily print their state’s proof of completion. More than 1.4 million boaters have taken the Foundation’s courses since 1997.

US Coast Guard statistics indicate that of the accidents where the level of operator education was known, 80 percent of boating deaths occurred on boats where the boat operator had never received boating education instruction.

 

About the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water:

The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water is a national leader promoting safe, clean and responsible boating. Funded primarily by donations from the more than half-million members of Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS), the nonprofit provides innovative educational outreach directly to boaters and anglers with the aim of reducing accidents and fatalities, increasing stewardship of America's waterways and keeping boating safe for all. A range of boating safety courses – including 36 free state courses – can be found at BoatUS.org/Courses.

 

California Boaters Can Now Take Free Boating Safety Course at Home

BoatUS Foundation online boating safety course approved by

California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 12, 2017 – A new law says California boaters will need to go to school, and the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety has the right course to fit their schedule and budget.

Starting January 1, 2018, Golden State boaters ages 20 or younger who operate a motorized vessel on state waterways will need to have a boater safety card showing successful completion of a boater safety education course. Each year thereafter on January 1, more age groups will be added to the requirement so that by 2025 all California boaters will need to carry a boater card issued by California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW).

The easiest and most affordable way to meet the requirement is to take the BoatUS Foundation’s free online Boating Safety Course – now approved by DBW – which allows boaters to take the course in the comfort of their own home. Once successfully completed, the course does not expire so boaters of all ages don’t need to delay and can complete their boating safety education now.

“We’ve loaded the course with interactive animations, videos and photos to give boaters an education that goes well beyond the basics of boating,” said BoatUS Foundation President Chris Edmonston. “The best part of all is that our course is free and can be taken at home. It’s designed so that you can stop and then continue at any time,” added Edmonston.

Upon finishing the course, boaters can print their own certificate of completion, and beginning in 2018, the state will begin to issue official California Boater Education Cards to students who have completed the course between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017.

The course and exam is approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators and recognized by the US Coast Guard as exceeding the minimum requirements for the National Recreational Boating Safety Program.

To take the course, go to BoatUS.org. For more information about California boater education, go to californiaboatercard.com.