With the mild winter, it feels like spring is just around the corner. Around here, there is a sense of urgency, as we are in the middle of a lot of projects we need to get finished before March.
We’re finishing up tower reconstruction, painting and redecorating our headquarters, starting our spring school educational program, winter training and a million other things.
We’re also looking at the beach and already are seeing more and more people around. In fact, as part of our new Tourism Oriented Police program, we’ve already started a daily patrol of the entire beach front focused on litter, water safety and city ordinance enforcement.
One topic that always is relevant as the beach gets kicking is that of personal watercraft (Jet Ski) safety. I had the privilege of working with a phenomenal group of eighth-graders from Pin Oak Middle School on a class project that targeted PWC safety awareness. McKenna Compton, Evelyn de Groot and Erin Lai call themselves “Team Speed Kills.”
After researching many Jet Ski safety articles, they found that 84 percent of accidents are caused by lack of instruction. They want everyone to be able to enjoy their Jet Ski, but in a safe environment for themselves and others. With this in mind, they figured the main criteria of their project would be an interactive website.
After spreading the word of their interactive website to friends and family, they began organizing the results. Their data tables showed how big of an impact Speed Kills made. The pretest average score was 65 percent, which increased after a study guide to an average post-test score of 98 percent. Visit their website at speedkillspwc.weebly.com. You’ll be impressed what this group of eighth-graders was able to do.
Texas law related to PWC can be found at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/boat/laws/pwc.
Working with our partners in the Galveston Police Department, the Galveston Sheriff’s Office, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Jamaica Beach Police Department, we enforce these along the beach front and in the adjacent waterways. Additionally, the beach patrol and the Galveston Police Department enforce laws specific to Galveston.
Some examples of how we try to keep the beaches safe related to PWC use are a designated swimming area along the entire beach front in which all watercraft can’t exceed sub-wake speed and designated areas that restrict use of any hard-bottomed craft.
We have designated launch sites on the west side of East Beach Park, at 29th Street on the west side of the jetty, and at all west end beach access points. People who rent PWC’s on the beach have specific ordinances. More can be found by going to our website and clicking the link at the bottom right of the home page.
On a final note, we’ve found the most effective way to prevent accidents is simply to be proactive and get the word out. We have our staff routinely do PWC inspections when people show up at the beach, which stops most problems before they start.
Peter Davis is chief of the Galveston Island Beach Patrol. The views in this column are Davis’ and do not necessarily represent those of the Beach Patrol, Galveston Park Board of Trustees or any other entity. Information on the Beach Patrol is at galvestonbeachpatrol.com.
