Southside Landing to be home for life jacket loaner station

Boaters in Southside will soon be safer after a commitment from the National Boating Safety Council to build a life jacket loaner station.

The non-profit organization is set to install the station at Southside Landing in spring of 2025. The station is being erected in honor of Chris Day, a champion of water safety and a resident of Southside who passed away.

“Chris Day wanted to bring a loaner station to Southside,” said Michael Weldon, Southside Parks & Rec supervisor. “It’s pretty special that they are recognizing him in this. Chris was a very well-liked guy in the city. He always attended our city events, and he always helped out.”

The National Boating Safety Council will foot the bill of the project as well as maintain the Coast Guard approved life jackets.

“The Boating Safety Council will replace any damaged or missing ones at no cost to the city,” Weldon said.

The loaner station will have displays on how to properly use the life jackets available. The station will include a range of sizes of life jackets.

“It will be there to use, if needed,” Weldon said. “So, if you’re going on your friend’s boat and need a life jacket, there will be some there.”

The station will boast the city’s logo as well as the safety council’s logo when it is complete.

“The loaner station won’t be like those bike shares or anything like it,” Weldon said. “It will just be there if you need it.”

According to Alabama safe boating laws, everyone on board a vessel must have a life jacket available to them. Anyone being towed on skis or a tube, riding a Jet Ski or Sea Doo, or boating within 800 feet below a dam must wear a life jacket. Children under eight years old are required to wear a life jacket at all times while on a boat or aquatic vessel.

“No person shall operate or give permission to operate any vessel on the waters of this state towing a person or persons on water skis, surfboard, spinners, or other similar devices unless such person or persons being towed are wearing a U.S. Coast Guard-approved wearable ‘Performance Level’ PFD [personal floatation device] approved for the specific activity an older style Type I, II, III, or Type V U.S. Coast Guard-approved PFD which is in good, serviceable condition and is approved for the specific activity,” the law states.

According to Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Marine Patrol Division, “all boats must be equipped with “U. S. Coast Guard-approved wearable life jackets called personal flotation devices or PFDs. One wearable PFD is required for each person on board and/or being towed. Each wearable PFD must be in good condition, the proper size for the intended wearer and, very importantly, must be readily accessible! Readily accessible means you must be able to put the PFD on in a reasonable amount of time in an emergency (boat sinking, on fire, etc.). PFDs should not be stowed in plastic bags, in locked or closed compartments, or have other gear stowed on top of them.”

Statistics on boating and waterway safety show that 79 percent of recorded boating accident victims were not wearing life jackets at the time of their fatal accidents. According to statistics from 2022 the total number of accidents declined by 15.7 percent, and the number of non-fatal injured victims declined by 17.2 percent. But the number of fatalities increased by 8.5 percent. According to the same statistics provided, 81 percent of fatal boating accident victims drowned.

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