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Spring is in full bloom and we look forward to summer with great anticipation. Every year at this time, we look to the season with excitement. Spring brings us a feeling of inspiration and hope. We get up in the morning and step out on the back patio with a fresh cup of coffee. The morning air lifts us to a new level of consciousness. This is a peaceful moment in our day, which is sure to become hectic and stressful. If we are wise, we experience this moment of now without the television or radio, just listening to nature and the morning dew. We can lose this peaceful moment with the click of the remote for the television, to expose the tragedy of the morning news.
This time of the year also brings us the reality of the season. We live in an environment where water is a huge part of many of our friends and families' lives. We have an abundance of wonderful lakes in North Texas. These Lakes are here to sustain our need of water, but they are also a part of our lifestyle and recreation. Our Lakes are meant to be enjoyed and to entertain. They supply us with phenomenal family time and pleasure. There is only one challenge to these facts about our Lakes. The challenge is that our water safety laws are outdated and they fail to protect our friends and families while they are enjoying our recreational Lakes. Once again, on 5-4-08 we were reminded of this fact. Nineteen-year old Eric Sorenson lost his life that Sunday afternoon on Lake Texoma. Eric was on a personal watercraft having fun, with a friend on another personal watercraft. The two Jet Ski's collided and Eric lost his life. The wake of grief that his family and friends are currently in cannot be explained in this short article, nor can it ever be put into words. I assure you that many people's lives are now changed forever.
Were nineteen- year old Eric and his twenty-year old friend operating these watercrafts beyond what would be considered safe? I do not know the answer, but I do know that they were both set up for disaster by our current water safety laws. We are required to receive training and a license to operate ALL moving vehicles, except watercraft. You see, both operators were past the state’s age requirement to have taken a watercraft safety course. Once we are eighteen years old, we are exempt from any requirement of education of safe watercraft operation. I do know that uneducated operators cause eighty percent of watercraft collisions. I also know operators twenty to fifty-nine years old cause sixty-six percent of all watercraft fatalities, and less than five percent of watercraft fatalities are caused by operators who are eighteen-years old or younger. Yet we only require watercraft education on that five percent.
Eric's death is a tragedy, and our lawmakers owe us answers. The people of Texas deserve updated water safety laws. Yes, we all have to be accountable for our own actions, yet this lack of training would never be accepted on the roads. There must be a change in our water safety laws, to save lives. Please write your state Senator and Representative and tell them that it is time for mandatory watercraft operator education. I will gladly take a few hours out of my day to take a watercraft education course knowing that if everyone did, many lives would be saved. I am sure every water-lover would agree. Please help our lawmakers understand that it is time to save lives.