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Life Jackets - Not Just A Good Idea Now It's The Law 
On July 11th, the County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to adopt a new regulation which requires children ages 12 and under to wear a life jacket in any county controlled body of water. This would include the rivers and lake in the Sacramento area. The parents of children caught without a life jacket will face up to six months in jail and a $500.00 fine. This is not just the law, it is a good idea and a great way to save lives. Life jackets DO save lives. But it is important that the life jacket be the correct size for the wearer. A life jacket is not something that you buy large and let the child ‘grow into’. Life jackets must be the proper size for the child NOW. A life jacket that is too large can slip off of the child and leave them unprotected. A life jacket that is too small may not be able to be buckled properly. And “floatees”, inner tubes, and inflatable toys are NOT life jackets. So now there is a new law and you do not have life jackets and they are not in the budget for now….what do you do? The county has stations along the rivers where life jackets can be borrowed for the day free of charge. During the major holiday weekends of the summer, Metro Fire in conjunction with our C.E.R.T. (Citizens Emergency Response Team) volunteers, man life jacket loan out stations at the river. You can also go to one of the fire stations listed below, where you can borrow life jackets for the family for free. The stations have several different sizes available, ranging from infants to adults sizes to loan out, but the numbers are limited, so plan ahead. Life jackets can be borrowed for the day or for a weekend. Life jackets can be borrowed from the following Metro Fire Stations: Station 31 – 7950 California Avenue, Fair Oaks For addition locations where you can borrow life jackets, go to the California Department of Boating and Waterways website at: www.dbw.ca.gov or call Sacramento Metro Fire District at (916) 566-4000 for more information. |
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