Demerit system for boaties ruled out

The CEO of NSW Maritime, Steve Dunn, has ruled out a demerit point system for boat licence holders in NSW. He has also ruled out the introduction of speed cameras on NSW waterways.

“In NSW we have found that our current policy of education and preventative safety measures has significantly reduced the number of boating incidents across the state,” he said.

A review on boating safety on the Murray River has been ongoing since early 2010, following an unusually high number of incidents over that summer. NSW Maritime and Marine Safety Victoria worked together to identify issues that could potentially improve boating safety and a consultation paper was prepared which can be viewed at: www.maritime.nsw.gov.au.

Dunn said the Murray River Safety Review was the result of extensive consultation including a series of local community forums, where the public and stakeholder offered a range of ideas and suggestions. These included the implementation of wake board and PWC zones, the use of speed cameras, demerit points, signage, and inboard petrol engine blowers and vents.