Suited for survival.

Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

Taylor Wright doesn't

ever think twice about wearing a life jacket.

"It's the best way to go swimming," said the 9-year-old from Springfield before taking the plunge into the McKenzie River on Tuesday. "It's, like, really safe and you won't drown."

Wright and his friend Sinjin Smith, 11, were the only ones wearing life jackets at the Hayden Bridge swimming hole at one point on Tuesday. Smith's father, Ron Ruiz, said water safety has always been a priority for him.

"No matter how much fun people have, it's dangerous," he said. "Just because it looks nice and calm on top doesn't mean it's that way underneath."

Over at the Autzen Footbridge, none of the inner tubers, swimmers or landscape artists stacking river rocks in the middle of the Willamette were seen wearing personal flotation devices. And the three boys who braved the rapids downstream from the bridge didn't see any need for life jackets as they bobbed up and down in the swift current like human buoys.

As the dangers of open water recreation become more apparent, and the importance of wearing the proper life jacket continues to be hammered home by high profile cases such as the recent death of Oakridge Fire Chief Mark Sundin - who was wearing a life jacket, but not the proper type - you might expect there to be more interest in life jackets, but that's not the case, says Anthony Bucher, a Eugene fire captain and a member of the water rescue team.

"There's not a lot of people wearing life vests," Bucher said. "(Part of it) seems like it's an age group thing. The families are all there with their kids and everybody has a life vest on, but you don't see a big group of college kids all with their life vests on going to the river."

Many of the vestless swimmers at Hayden Bridge on Tuesday were young, and many of them said they saw little reason to put on a life jacket.

"I'm 19, if I'm not going to wear one, I'm not going to wear one," said Brandon Adcock of Springfield, adding that he was confident in his swimming abilities.

Bucher is used to hearing such sentiments, but he says being a strong swimmer is not enough to protect everyone.

"Things can happen in the water where you get knocked unconscious," he said "It doesn't matter how good a swimmer you are."

Guy Santiago, owner of Oregon River Sports, says many people own life jackets and don't wear them, a fact confirmed by local law enforcement officials who recently rescued a woman who had two life jackets on her boat and was wearing neither.

"The biggest reason that most people don't wear life jackets is comfort," Santiago said. "My advice is to buy a jacket that's comfortable. So many people look at price and I always ask, `What's your life worth?' '

Paul Vitus, a marine deputy for the Lane County Sheriff's Office, is so tired of hearing excuses from people not wearing life jackets that he has been known to take money out of his own pocket to pay for a personal flotation device. The department has started collecting used life jackets to be loaned out and given away.

"That's how strong we feel about making sure people have life jackets," he said.

Another common sight for Vitus is children wearing life jackets, while their parents refuse to put them on. Oregon law requires kids younger than 13 to wear life jackets on boats.

Ruiz, the father of the Springfield boy wearing the life jacket, admits to being guilty of such an infraction.

"I've always been an extremely good swimmer," he said. "I know that's no excuse but I rarely get into the water."

To help convince parents to get with the program and to continue encouraging kids, Vitus' department has come up with an unusual approach that involves a partnership with Dairy Queen. They hand out coupons to kids who they see wearing life jackets and provide them with instructions on how to redeem the tickets.

"It's hard to tell parents to do something. They get upset and mad," he said.

`We tell the kids, `Hey, don't share this ice cream with your parents. They don't have their life jacket on.' '

LIFE JACKETS

The Statistics: In Oregon, 85 percent of the people who drown in boating accidents would have survived had they worn life jackets. In 2004, the state had eight recreational boating fatalities; five of the victims were not wearing life jackets. In 2003, 14 of the 18 people to die in recreational boating accidents were not wearing life jackets.

The Law: Oregon law states that no person shall operate a boat on state waters with a child age 12 and younger unless the child is wearing a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device/life jacket, of the appropriate size, while a boat is under way. Children on an open deck or cockpit of sailboats and motorized and nonmotorized vessels (canoes, kayaks, rafts) under way must wear a life jacket at all times.

Choices: Be sure to choose the right type of life jacket for the activity. If you are unsure, check with a knowledgeable sales clerk or a water safety expert. In general, you get what you pay for.

Fit: Use the "touchdown test" to ensure proper fit. With the jacket on, raise your arms as though signaling a touchdown. If, when looking to the left, right and over the shoulder, the chest part of the jacket doesn't hit the chin, the device probably fits. A good test for children is to have a child stand normally, arms at sides. Grab the life jacket at the shoulders and firmly lift up. If you can move the life jacket more than three inches up and down the child's body, it doesn't fit.

Approval: Life jackets must be Coast Guard-approved. The approval is shown by a stencil marking or tag on the personal flotation device. If your life jacket is damaged, it no longer meets legal requirements. Check yearly for buoyancy, rips, rust and rot.

More: For more information on life jackets, go to www.boatoregon.com. To make a life jacket donation to the Lane County Sheriff's Office, call 682-8599.

- Oregon State Marine Board

CAPTION(S):

Taylor Wright, 9, wears his life jacket as he leaps into the McKenzie River under Hayden Bridge in Springfield during an outing with his neighbors.