Needs of the U.S. Coast Guard in Developing an Effective Recreational Boating Safety Program

Gao ID: CED-77-11 December 3, 1976

Under authority granted by the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971, the Coast Guard has encouraged state governments to begin or expand safety programs. The Coast Guard is also visiting boat manufacturers to ensure that boats are being built in accordance with safety guidelines.

Additional information on state boating safety education and enforcement programs is needed so that the Coast Guard can evaluate existing programs, provide increased guidance to the states, and develop boat construction and performance standards. Most people who go boating have not taken a basic boating course and not all states provide courses. The Coast Guard is now working to establish minimum education criteria. It is also emphasizing the training of state and local law enforcement officials; but no successful method for evaluating the effectiveness of the states' enforcement has been developed.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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