Need to get that boater's safety course under your belt before the weather warms? The Missouri State Highway Patrol is urging boaters to take a safety course this spring, with the annual Spring Aboard campaign.

“Missouri's many rivers and lakes offer a variety of boating opportunities," said MSHP Lt. Col. Olson. "Please do your part: Spring Aboard and take a boating safety class. Join us in our mission to promote safety on our waterways.”

The Spring Aboard campaign encourages boaters to register for a certified boating educational course during the week of March 17-23, 2019. Forty-nine states and U.S. territories require some form of boater education.

Missouri law requires everyone born after January 1, 1984, who operates a vessel on Missouri lakes to possess a certified boating safety education card and photo ID. This includes personal watercraft operators.

Boaters have the opportunity to sign up for a certified course in a classroom or take an online course by visiting the Patrol’s website at https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/WP02Web/app/safetyEdClasses.

The classroom courses provided by the Missouri State Highway Patrol are free, but registration is required and the boater ID card costs $15.

The following three sessions are scheduled in the general Lake of the Ozarks area:

  • Warsaw, MO: Mar. 16, 2019, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. - Harry S. Truman Visitor Center
  • Sunrise Beach, MO: Mar. 23, 2019, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. - Advantage Marine
  • Lebanon, MO: Mar. 23, 2019, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. - Laclede Electric Co-Op

For those who wish to take a boater education course but are unavailable on the dates listed above, the following three sessions will be offered beyond central Missouri and the Lake area:

  • Warrensburg, MO: Mar. 23, 2019, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. - Northside Christian Church
  • Branson, MO: Mar. 17, 2019, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. - Dewey Short Visitor Center
  • Poplar Bluff, MO: Mar. 23, 2019, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. - Troop E Headquarters 

U.S. Coast Guard statistics indicate that of boating crashes where the level of operator education was known, 80.6% of boating deaths occurred on boats whose driver had never received boating education instruction. In contrast, only 19.4% of deaths occurred on vessels whose driver had earned a nationally-approved boating safety education certificate.

Watercraft operators must consider the effect their actions have on others. Share the waterway and use common sense, good judgment, and courtesy to ensure the safety of all. Life jackets save lives. Wear It!!

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