WATER SAFETY STRESSED.Byline: Stacy Brown Daily News Staff Writer With temperatures soaring again near triple digits and visitors thronging to Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² , officials were stressing water safety Saturday and urging boaters to wear life vests. The U.S. Coast Guard has tried to make it mandatory for everyone in a vessel to wear a life vest; still boaters refuse them. ``It is up to us and that's the way it should stay,'' said Maureen Slattery, a frequent visitor to the lake. Currently, the law requires that boaters younger than 7 wear the jackets at all times unless they are tethered Attached to a data or power source by wire or fiber. Contrast with untethered. to a sailboat or in a cabin. Boaters also are required to have one floatation device per person on board, whether a floating cushion or a life vest. A Castaic Lake employee said attendance, which had been slow during the week, is expected to reach near capacity throughout the weekend. Lake Superintendent Frank Gonzales said it generally takes a hard lesson before some learn the value of life jackets. ``Everybody thinks it's not going to happen to me,'' Gonzales said. ``But it's just like seat belts. It's always better to be prepared. The guy that ends up in the water is usually the one who failed to wear his jacket and so he drowns.'' Yet, the answer was a resounding re·sound v. re·sound·ed, re·sound·ing, re·sounds v.intr. 1. To be filled with sound; reverberate: The schoolyard resounded with the laughter of children. 2. no when the U.S. Coast Guard recently asked whether boaters nationwide should be required to wear the safety devices. Although laws vary from state to state, nowhere are all boaters required to wear life jackets under all conditions. Also called personal flotation devices A personal flotation device (also named PFD, lifejacket, life preserver, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, life belt , life jackets are viewed by many boaters as uncomfortable, hot and undignified. But like other unpopular transportation safety devices - seat belts in cars and helmets for motorcycle motorcycle, motor vehicle whose design is based on the bicycle. The German inventor Gottlieb Daimler is generally credited with building the first practical motorcycle in 1885. The motorcycle did not become dependable and popular, however, until after 1900. riders - they save lives. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Coast Guard, more than 800 people died in boating accidents in 1995, the most recent year for which nationwide statistics are available. The victims included 629 people who drowned, 561 of whom were not wearing life jackets. While no one can say how many of those people might have been saved, ``the best way to minimize the number of deaths due to drowning drowning /drown·ing/ (droun´ing) suffocation and death resulting from filling of the lungs with water or other substance. drowning, n asphyxiation because of submersion in a liquid. is to maximize the number of boaters wearing life jackets,'' the Coast Guard concluded in a recent report. |
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