John MacDonald: We need a one-size-fits-all life jacket rule

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

How weird is it that there are different rules or expectations regarding life jackets, depending on where you are in the country?

I’m not the only one who thinks it’s weird. A coroner who has looked into the drownings of a 10-year-old boy and his mother thinks it’s weird too, and is calling for change.

And instead of local councils being responsible for setting lifejacket rules, she wants there to be a single rule for the whole country making life jackets mandatory on all small boats. Everywhere.

And I totally agree. I know there’ll be no shortage of people thinking that it’s pointless making life jackets mandatory because, even where you have local councils now saying they have to be worn, there are still people who don’t.

But this is why a single, blanket rule for the whole country is needed.

This follows the deaths of 10-year-old Ryder Ferregel and his mum Gemma Ferregel, in November 2022. They were on Auckland’s Manukau Harbour and they were out on a 4.8 metre boat doing some scalloping.

There were three other people on board the boat and what happened is it was hit by two waves in pretty close succession, and because of that, it capsized.

At the time, no one on board was wearing a lifejacket. What makes this more tragic —aside from the fact that a woman and her son lost their lives— is that before the boat capsized, Ryder had been wearing a lifejacket but his mum said he could take it off because it didn't fit him properly and was riding up on him.

So, by the time the boat capsized, there was no one wearing a life jacket.

And coroner Erin Woolley is saying today that if they had been, Ryder and Gemma would have had a much greater chance of survival.

And that’s why she wants to see life jackets to be made mandatory on small boats, everywhere. She thinks we need a single rule for the whole country – not just rules set in different areas by different local authorities.

It would also be clear to people who aren’t boaties what the rule was, giving them licence to call people out for not wearing life jackets.

For example: you’re at the boat ramp and you see some muppets about to head out with no life jackets – even people in the car park there just watching the boats, they would know what the rule was and they’d be much more likely to say something, wouldn't they?

What’s more, if there was a single rule for the whole country, it wouldn't be left to local authorities to have local rules that only they can enforce.

If there was a single life jacket rule for the whole country, the Coastguard —for example— could fine people for not wearing a jacket.

It's crazy, isn't it, that they can come up to you when you're out fishing and fine you if the fish in your bucket are undersized, but they can’t fine you for not taking the appropriate safety precautions.

That’s because lifejacket rules are set by local by-laws and it’s the job of the councils to enforce them. Which coroner Erin Woolley wants to see changed. And so do I.

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