Our toddler life jacket conundrum

I could see having a making it mandatory for children but that is far as it needs to go. Friends at cottage are making there own decision on whether to wear a lifejacket or not, most do. I on other hand wear it if I am in the canoe or if the water is freezing other than that no lifejacket but always have one beside me, ITS MY CHOICE. Many people die because of ther own choice to drink and not wear it, or to not stay with boat. Let us use our common sense and let us make our own decision. Thanks

If even one life is saved by mandatory legislation - I for one will be grateful. We have witnessed the worst year in recent memory for deaths by drowning in Ontario.....if people won't use common sense then let us support police by agreeing to their requests for formal legislation.

You can't fish without a license; you can no longer operate a boat without a license; now we are faced with being forced to wear a PFD or face additional fines? I remember as kids you could fish in a stream and operating a boat became a right of passage as you aged at the cottage - no government intervention required; common sense dictated that you wore a PFD when out in the boat. As an adult I am sick to death of the government telling us what we can and can't do, legislating common sense and removing the freedom of choice to protect us from ourselves through over-regulating every facet of outdoors enjoyment. We are Canadians - what ever happened to being able to walk out your front door to experience the freedom of this land without worrying about what new self-protection over-regulation you are contravening?

I am sick to death of being protected from myself. I choose to wear my PFD in my smaller open boat ... because I choose to wear it. Not because it's being forced (or enforced). I will resist every effort to make PFDs mandatory. The OPP (of course) are advocating mandatory PFD usage simply because its easier for them than actually targeting unsafe boaters and enforcing existing laws. Case in point: last summer the OPP in one of their 30 foot vessels targeted my retired neighbour in her pedal boat! She was wearing a PFD but the big concern? No bailer. Hello! These are self-bailing boats and she was within 50 feet of her dock. Meanwhile all manner of violations - speeding, excessive wake, water skiing infractions ... you name it ... go un-enforced and evidently un-noticed. If 3 or 4 police officers are going to patrol the waters in quarter million dollar vessels I want to see them doing something more than harassing seniors in pedal boats. Mandatory life jackets will do nothing to make boating safer just as mandatory seat belts have NOT reduced the number of collisions. Its just made them more survivable. It`s quite likely that the number of collisions has increased with the added sense of invulnerability that comes with seat belts and air bags. How many times have you seen OPP officers peering into car windows on highway ramps checking for seatbelts while on the very highway they’re meant to patrol all manner of aggressive and unsafe driving is ignored... You don`t know me & I mean nothing to you so why do you pretend to care about MY safety. Stay out of my face and let me decide for myself what is safe.

Luckily I was wearing my PFD when I fell in the water last summer. I too as you do got into the habit of wearing it. It's one of the light ones with the straps and belt. I'm still here but my watch isn't.

All valid points and I'm not disputing them, but whether you're in a slow paddle in a canoe, docking a boat or leaving your dock, or a speedy ride in a big boat, $HIT happens. It just takes one freak accident and it could be the end of a life. A neighbor of mine lost her life when out on a leisurely cruise in the family boat. An out of control boater slammed into them at full speed. Whether they are mandatory or not, whether moving fast or slow in a kayak or a motor boat, I'm not taking any chances. I'm wearing a pfd.

I find it interesteing that there are so many people against this legislation. I don't see the harm. I bet people were just as resistant back in 1976 when seatbelts became manditory. They save lives. That's the important thing.

Our lake association does a periodic survey of members' thinking on a wide range of topics. Boating issues always top the list of concerns. The issues are excessive speed and wake-related damage to docks and property. Related to both of these is concern for personal safety of swimmers. The topic of compulsory wear of lifejackets or PFDs has never come up. My own observation is that most of the people who should be wearing lifejackets already are. These are smart people making good choices in the right circumstances. Perhaps they were persuaded by education efforts, perhaps they just thought for themselves. On our lake, we don't need more rules for the OPP to enforce, we need more help with enforcing existing rules about speed and wake, particularly in narrow channels and around sensitive shoreline.

In your May'11 edition Penny Caldwell goes on a bit about lifejackets, beginning with a heartwarming anecdote and ending with a statement promoting good parenting and common sense. There's a bit between the beginning and the end however where Ms. Caldwell says that she believes that we should all be subject to fines and such from the provincial police if we don't want to wear our lifejackets all the time that we are in our boats. I assume that Ms. Caldwell's next editorial will be about sunscreen. Skin cancer rates are increasing and we cottagers, with our outdoorsy-type lifestyles, are probably leading the pack. Sunscreen should be mandatory at all times outdoors, particularly if you are in a boat, what with all that water reflecting and no shade. Unless the boat is over 20' long. If your boat is over 20' long then you can afford a little nitrogen and don't need to wear sunscreen. We should all be subject to fines and such from the provincial police if we don't want to wear sunscreen all the time that we are in our boats And shoes, real shoes, with laces, not those thong things with the bit that goes between your big toe and the next one. Do you have any idea how many people have tripped or at least had to hop along on one foot for a bit due to not wearing proper footwear, particularly on boats? We should all be subject to fines and such from the provincial police if we don't want to wear proper footwear all the time that we are in our boats. And a sweater, or better yet, layers. Dress in layers otherwise you might catch a cold or pneumonia or the flu, and not just any flu, a pandemic bird/swine type flu that could kill us all. We should all be subject to fines and such from the provincial police if we don't want to wear layers all the time that we are in our boats less than 20' long. Don't forget to go to shore before taking off any layers 'cause you will be wearing a lifejacket on top and you should be subject to fines and such from the provincial police if you take off your lifejacket in your under 20' long boat to remove any layers. Thanks Penny. All that taking responsibility, using common sense and practising good parenting was getting to be a drag.

I would like to wear a life jacket more than I do. I usually have one on the seat when I'm in a small boat or canoe ( I can see people frowning already). In a sport jacket my size is 58 extra tall. I have yet to find a life jacket that fits me without severely restricting my breathing, much less my movement. Any suggestions out there??

Folks: I am an adult who is an experienced, responsible kayaker. I kayak at my lake sticking close to the shoreline as that is where I see most of the wildlife. I enjoy slowly moving and taking in the sun. I resent people who wish to impose their will on other adults by advocating mandatory PFD use. I do not care if other adults wear theirs when they boat, please don't concern yourself with me. Finally I do not see mandatory helmuts when cycling as a relevant comparison. I live in Alberta and wear my helmut when I cycle (even before it was the law). Cycling is far more dangerous than kayaking.

I couldn't have said it better. I have been cottaging and boating on a water-access lake for over 40 years and have seen our two boys and their friends grow up as (mostly) responsible boaters - not because of nanny-state rules and regulations, but because they have learned to be responsible for their own actions and apply common sense. Yes, they wore life jackets on docks and in boats until they were water safe, as do their children now. I do not want someone who has no idea what boating is all about tell me that I must wear a life jacket at all times when in a boat. What's next? Maybe some bright spark will decree that we all must wear life jackets when we go swimming or when we are within x meters from the water's edge.

Hello Penny, If the intent of mandatory pfd wearing is to prevent deaths, I think that outcome is highly unlikely. Given that alcohol (and likely non-compliance) is a factor in a very high percentage of boating fatalities the likely outcome might be that the odd body is easier to find floating around. If the intention is to artificially placate uber safety concsious do-gooders then it would likely be successful. You cannot legislate common sense. I have been mucking around in small boats for almost 50 years and I wear a pfd when it is logical to do so (kayaking, avoiding tickets). I keep an ample supply of them within arms reach in all my boats and always have done regardless of changing regulations. My son wore a pfd virtually every waking hour at our water access cottage until he proved his swimming abilities up to the task of self preservation. Perhaps the conversation should be re-framed into a discussion of what skills a logical person should prepare themselves with before attempting an activity which they have not been trained for. I resent the suggestion that I need to spend ten's of thousands of dollars on a longer boat in order to enjoy both sufficient safety and the sun on my back. Inexperienced people should proceed with caution (read wear a pfd) until they have mastered the watercraft they use and the waters where they attempt to travel. The social and industry safety consciousness raising efforts have had wonderful results over the years. Your suggestions about mandatory pfd wear are typical simplistic quick fix ideas which are entirely unnecessary and contrary to the spirit and enjoyment of small craft boating.

Hi Penny, We've been having this discussion about wearing vs carrying pfds for years. As cruising sailors, we adults have comfortable inflatable pfds and we wear them all the time. We buy the most comfortable pfds around for our son. At the cottage we wear our pfds for 2 reasons. Action speaks louder than words, how can we convince our kids that they need to wear them in the boat if we don't. Secondly, we noticed that the OPP rarely pull us over if we are wearing our pfds. The cottages on Go Home Lake are primarily boat access, so on any given weekend the boat traffic (read revenue potential) provides enough reason for the OPP to cruise the lake and issue tickets for boat safety offenses. Often, when we are pulled over, the officers aren't pleasant and really take their time to do their inspections (sorry OPP you needed to hear that). Kids follow by example, we never have to tell our son to put on his pfd. He knows to because he sees us doing it.....just like the seatbelt in a car, we really don't think about it anymore.

While I didn't grow up wearing a PFD at all times and in fact it was considered a bit 'geeky' to do so amongst my friends, now that I have my own children and have matured a bit I recognize the error of my ways. We also didn't wear bike helmets - never would have considered it, but the mandating of helmets has taken away the stigma of it, and now it's considered socially expected - a very positive step. Doing the same with PFDs, not just for children but for everyone, would similarly remove the social stigma from it - those who wish to be Darwinian would simply have to find new ways to put their lives in danger should they so choose to. With all the new changes in boating regulations and licensing, it wouldn't seem like that much of a big deal to enforce mandatory PFD wear as well - I'd be all in favour. Besides, I'm getting tired of the regular stories that start around the Victoria Day long weekend of regular drownings in cottage country that could have - and should have - been prevented.

We are big proponents of wearing PFDs - so much so that m family of 4, 2 adults, 16 yr old and 10 yr old, carries our own almost everywhere we go all summer. True, most of those spots are a result of our sailing activity but some are out to cottages of friends and families. My family arrives with PFDs that fit, are comfortable to wear, easy to put on and keep us afloat - we test them every year. As for an infant size PFD, I suggest you try the marine stores. There are a couple of options available and a Canadian brand that does a great job on fit and safety. I have been very pleased to see that the fit and selection once reserved for high end water sports is now available in an affordable, recreational style and price range. Many boaters are now also looking into the inflatable PFDs. Whichever your style, price range, fit or sport - the PFD is only useful to you if you have it attached to you. Thanks for bringing up this important subject. The teenage son of our neighbour died in a canoe accident - no PFD.

Penny, thank you for this timely post. I recently posted on the Forums a request for opinions/suggestions about what is the best PFD for infants and toddlers. My daughter is expecting our first grandchild at the end of August. Next summer, the little one will be visiting us at camp and I want to buy the best PFD. I have heard that the old fashioned Key-Hole is the best, but they are not as easy to find. Thanks for the link you included. I'll go read that next. We always followed the proper rules and carried regulation PFDs in the boat, but we didn't 'wear' them. Now we do. I bought myself a nice pink one!! A few summers ago, I had heard about yet another tragic boating accident where the person might have survived if wearing a PFD. It was what prompted me to be diligent and wear my jacket ALWAYS. And it's not even just while cruising the waters. One woman I heard about was getting out of the boat at the dock, lost her footing, hit her head and fell into the water. She wasn't alone and was able to get immediate help. But, how many people boat alone? This could happen while approaching your own dock at the cottage. Who would be there to help you? So many scenarios. And because most people store their PFDs under benches and such, in a real emergency how easy is it going to be to think fast and retrieve one of them? Someone could die before that happens. With the grandchild on the way, we plan to be extra cautious and set a good example for him and the rest of the family. Personally, I don't understand why it's such a big deal for people. Jackets don't have to be uncomfortable, there are many great ones on the market. I'm all for making it law.

I insist on my son (3) wearing a PFD not only in the boat, but also when puddling along the shore or on the dock - accidents can happen so quickly. My father drowned in Lake Huron in 1996 after his canoe capsized, and he was knocked unconsious - there was a life jacket in the canoe, but like you said, what good is that if you are not alert? That being said, when in the small tin boat in my inlaws small lake, I rarely wear my PFD, but in a canoe or in a kayak yes - I find them much more unstable.