POWERBOATS (REGULATION) (Hansard, 15 March 1972)

§ Mrs. Renée Short (Wolver Hampton, North-East)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to regulate the use of powerboats and other boats driven by motor, to provide for the licensing of their drivers, and for purposes connected therewith. It was the tragic death of a 13-year-old girl living in my constituency that determined me to take steps to bring the growing use of powerboats under some kind of control and to introduce a national code of conduct.

The accident happened off a very crowded bathing beach at Llangrannog in Cardiganshire last summer. An eye witness of the whole tragic event wrote to me, and I cannot do better than read part of his letter to the House, because it puts very succinctly the problem, the difficulties and the horror of accidents of this kind. The letter is from a consultant surgeon at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary who happened to be on the beach with his two children at the time. He was, in fact, the doctor who endeavoured to render aid to the child, but her injuries were such that she died instantaneously.

He writes: The weather on the afternoon concerned was exceptionally fine, and the rather small beach was densely crowded. The tide was going out and hundreds of children and adults of all ages were either paddling or bathing from the beach with some scattered swimmers perhaps 50–60 feet out from the shore. Early in the afternoon two power boats appeared towing water skiers back and fore across the bay at high speeds and landing these on a small area of the beach that was still covered by the tide. My wife commented on one or two occasions that both boats and skiers were coming in dangerously close to some of the swimmers that were furthest out from the beach. However, neither we nor anyone else really comprehended the real danger of this, and in this sense I think we must all accept some of the responsibility for what subsequently occurred. The water skiing continued for perhaps an hour or so, and whilst I was walking along the edge of the water watching my own two small children who were paddling, I was suddenly aware that one of the boats was coming at high speed and directly head on towards the beach where I was standing. Within a few seconds it had already reached the outermost swimmers, and only then did it swerve away and stop at a distance of perhaps 30 feet from the beach, and where the water was perhaps no more than 3–4 feet deep. As the boat swerved I saw one swimmer who just 547 managed to duck out of the way, but within a few second it was apparent that someone had been struck, when a huge pool of blood appeared in the water behind the boat and a body floated to the surface. There were scores of children nearby who saw this, and ran screaming from the water together with some adults who were understandably horrified with what they saw. I then ran into the sea and quickly helped two other men to bring the girl from the water, which we were able to do in less than half a minute from the time of the accident. He went on to describe the injuries that this child suffered.

There is a growing interest in the arts of boating and water sports of all kinds, and in the private ownership and use of powerboats. Local authorities now have certain opportunities to control the use of boats, but not to control the licensing of the drivers and the registration of the boats, under various public health Acts dating from 1875. Not all local authorities with coastlines in their area avail themselves of those opportunities. But the time has come, because there is now increasing pressure on inland stretches of water and, therefore, more boats are using sea areas, for some national control and the introduction of a standard code of practice. Many boats are now being used that are not suitable for deep water use. They are being used close inshore; consequently, that means much greater risk to bathers and people using the water.

The time has now come for a thorough look at the whole problem and for deciding some kind of national policy. It is not possible to introduce any kind of speed restriction, and the Bill will not propose to do that. Control based on optional local legislation cannot be effective. Local Bills tend to be unenforceable. That reinforces my belief that the only practicable approach to the problem is to have separate areas set aside for the use of bathers and for boating, clearly marked so that no one can be under any misapprehension as to where boats are allowed to go and where bathers are safe to go.

I am suggesting, therefore, that there should be proposals for the indication by local authorities—this will be mandatory upon them—of which beaches shall be set aside for bathers and where it would be an offence for powerboats to approach. The Bill would also require them to 548 indicate by coloured marker buoys set at a reasonable distance from the shore an area that would be closed to powerboats.

I believe that the Bill would have a great deal of support from district councils which would be responsible for carrying out the task. I have been in touch with the Rural District Councils Association and the Urban District Councils Association. They support the general provisions of the Bill. I have had very friendly and helpful advice from the County Councils Association as well. I understand that the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents—RoSPA—is very concerned about the growing number of boating accidents of all kinds. I understand that last year the figure for boat accidents was over 5,000, which was an increase of about 25 per cent. over the previous year. I understand that RoSPA has made an approach to the Home Office on the general lines that I have outlined; that is, the need to divide bathers from powerboat users and the need to introduce a national code of conduct.

The Bill would provide for the introduction of a system of licensing of persons entitled to drive powerboats, with appropriate provisions for testing and the collection of fees. It would provide for the registration of these boats and for their identification, with suitable penalties for non-observance. It would require district councils to identify beaches to be reserved for bathers and from which powerboats would be excluded, and would require district councils to provide coloured marker buoys at a reasonable distance from the beaches within which area the presence of powerboats would be an offence.

In view of the widespread support for the Bill and many letters I have received from people in many coastal areas all around the country, I hope the Bill will receive the approval of the House.