Brian Rogers Rogers Rabbits www.sunlive.co.nz

Lifejacket laws and pool fencing continue to be contentious issues among New Zealanders as we dive into summer.

As another tragic story unfolds in the news this week, the water safety debates are more emotional than ever.

Some argue, bylaws forcing the wearing of lifejackets, as proposed in Auckland, won't actually prevent drownings.

Critics say the rules suit bureaucrats and not the public; and the lifejacket law will go the same way as compulsory bike helmets, fencing paddling pools, and anti-smacking laws – good in theory, but ineffectual in practice, hopeless to police and makes criminals of many sensible New Zealanders just going about their daily lives.

One of the issues, particularly the lifejacket saga – is the inconsistency. We now have so many different variations of it from region to region, that boaties are confused.
Here in the Bay of Plenty, the water safety rules are pretty standard, as set out by Maritime NZ. Yet just over the border in the Waikato region, they're a lot more draconian with compulsory wearing rules for boats under six metres; and they even insist on all boats being named or numbered.

Pimp my regulations
Boaties are a fairly transient bunch, often cruising or towing their boats from region to region, coast to lake. Some regions enforce the carriage, but not the wearing, unless crossing a bar or in situations of heightened danger. Others have wishy washy versions that wearing is required when conditions 'present an increased risk.” (By the time you realise, it's probably too late!). Others have exemptions for when the skipper says it's okay to not wear. Oh dear.

If the rules were consistent across the country, that would be a great step forward. And basically they were, until various other regions started pimping their regulations.

Another answer
This works: wear a buoyancy aid all the time. It could be my upbringing as a white water fanatic, when a buoyancy aid was a constant essential and it has become as much an everyday part of life as pulling on underwear.
(Except, of course, in those commando situations when a boatie wears a buoyancy aid and no underwear).

If you get the right sort, it's an incredibly handy garment with pockets and zips to carry everything from a good knife, water and fishing gear, VHF and EPIRB, hat, sunglasses, duck caller, or whatever. The bonus in winter – they're really warm.
But for the great majority of boaties, wearing a lifejacket is seen as some kind of imposition. A restriction. A chore. They don't consider it a useful device with lifesaving benefits – just another annoyance that some bastard is forcing upon them.
Really though, it comes down to personal responsibility. You either want to increase your chances of surviving, or just continue with head-in-sand, thinkng you'll never need it. Most of you will be right, most of the time.
Natural selection at work, I guess.

Some say, why do we care? Others are hell bent on protecting people, whether they want to be saved or not. It's just a matter of how far society wants to dabble in trying to save people from themselves.

I reckon part of the answer is with family; help push the message. Buy them a fitting jacket. Nag them to wear it. A good one is a useful one. You could buy them basic, cheap, uncomfortable and cumbersome emergency-only pieces – which also means the boat is street-legal, but they are not the sort of things any fisho is going to wear all the time. They're more likely to be shoved in a dark damp corner, and thought about when it's too late. Whereas a well-fitting, quality jacket that is sleek and comfortable, will become second nature to wear – every outing.

These days you can get a good manual inflating jacket for under a hundie. Or a jacket-style with as many pockets as you need. Hell, you can even get them in camo, if you don't want to be found!

Saving our readers from themselves
Chances are, three or four of you reading this paper in the Bay will drown each year.
Probably not while you're actually reading it. Although hopefully, after reading it, you will then not drown. Here's how reading this paper could save your life:
This newspaper goes free to 64,180 homes, of about 159,700 people. It's the widest circulating paper in the region. It's also the most popular with Nielsen surveys rating it the most read newspaper in the Bay.

New Zealand is a country of four million, with an average of 120 drownings a year. That means one in about 33,000 of you will drown. The rates are higher in the Bay, due to us being a coastal region with great climate and a lot of water activities. We lost six last year, and 16 the year before that. Statistically, our drowning rate is three or four times' the rest of the country. However, our probability is hugely reduced if we take a few measures to avoid being in ‘the draw.'

Given that the good people at Nielsen rate us with at least 71,000 readers each week (the most in the Bay), then statistically, three or four of you each year are drowners… Unless…we all do something about it!

Make it the top priority for your family this summer. Let's not lose any more readers. That's my free advice. Thank me for it later.

brian@thesun.co.nz