It’s a vital choice! The survival time at sea can be multiplied by ten thanks to the safety vest. Should we then make it mandatory in the manner of the car seat belt and the two-wheeled helmet?
Nearly 100% of the people killed by a lifejacket this summer along the French coastline have been saved. If the topic is regularly discussed within ministries, the project to make the wearing of this safety equipment mandatory is postponed from year to year. In 20 years, wearing lifejackets for boaters or professional buoyancy clothing has more than doubled. Awareness campaigns, sensitized generation, improved ergonomics, equipment prices down. The number of equipped users has steadily increased. While mentalities have largely evolved on the subject, there still remain brakes and recalcitrant. Especially on sunny days or festive outings, where group dynamics tend to dissolve good habits. Overall, the maritime authorities observe during their regular checks at sea more than half of boaters equipped and relatively little total absence of safety elements on board. But the right vest is the one you wear on your back, not the one who sleeps in the inaccessible trunk!
Is it necessary to make its use obligatory? Some boaters who took the fold do not see any problem. “The seatbelt has been successful in bringing down the number of people killed on the roads. Why would not it work at sea? The gendarmes are not behind any motorists either… “Another story from Admiral Frederic Maurice, delegate departmental SNSM in Finisher.” The wearing of the reflective vest is obviously a good thing (especially during trips in the appendix) but we must trust the marine sense of users,” tempers him. “The sea remains and must remain one of the last spaces of freedom on earth. Should we try to over-regulate it? France does not have the means to enforce this obligation at sea. So let users enjoy the sea as they see fit! “.
On the other hand, no ambiguity for the volunteers of the SNSM perfectly equipped with each of their interventions. It is still among practitioners sailing that the vest is sometimes desired. But for fishing, no visible evolution, always as many pro fishermen with nothing on their backs, out of habit, feeling safe not too far from the coast. However, the regulation is without appeal concerning the fishermen-sailors, since a decree of 2007. “The wearing of the integrated buoyant garment (adapted to each type of fishing) is obligatory during the fishing operations, for the work on the bridge of at night, in reduced visibility and bad weather, by way of an annex and if the commander so requires according to the circumstances “, remembers the regional fisheries committee.
On the side of state action at sea, the subject is in the hands of the mission of boating and water recreation. The three maritime prefectures of the French seaboard have already expressed their wish to make the wearing of lifejackets or buoyancy safety clothing compulsory. But the measure is hard to impose, even if the rescue operations remain free and the search time at sea of a yachtsman not equipped is incommensurable.