The Orillia OPP marine unit is out on local waterways this weekend, ensuring operators are sober and following important safety rules.
On Saturday, the local marine unit conducted a vessel inspection while on routine patrol in the Trent-Severn Waterway.
The operator of the vessel submitted to a "roadside" test and was under the legal limit, but had alcohol in his system.
A quantity of alcohol was seized and several Liquor Licence Act charges were laid.
The OPP report that almost 40 per cent of boating fatalities in the last 10 years involved alcohol or drugs.
Any operator who is unsure of the equipment required for their vessel please view the Transport Canada Safe Boating Guide at https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/debs-obs-menu-1362.htm. An essential part our enforcement effort is to save lives and reduce injuries on our waterways while promoting and educating the public about safe boating practices.
Police are also stressing the importance of essential safety tips, including wearning a life-jacket.
In the last 10 years, 80 per cent of the people who died in OPP-investigated boating incidents were not wearing a life jacket.
It is important for paddlers to wear them too as canoes and kayaks were among the top three vessel types involved in the fatalities over the last 10-year period
