News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2003
Personal Watercraft Families will Continue to Boat in North Kingstown-
Town Council Vote of 3-2 Overrules Proposed Ordinance to Ban PWC on Narrow River
Washington, DC—The Town
Council of North Kingstown, Rhode Island Monday night voted
against a proposed anti-personal watercraft ordinance, allowing
for the continued use of personal watercraft on Narrow River.
The ordinance had proposed a wholesale ban of personal watercraft
(PWC) use on the portion of the Narrow River that falls within
the municipality's jurisdiction.
Critics of the ordinance, including many residents of North
Kingstown, have long complained that the proposed policy was
based on outdated and inaccurate information and would have
unreasonably penalized responsible, law abiding and tax paying
residents. Last night's important decision was made as neighboring
towns, South Kingstown and Narrangansett, also consider PWC
rules for their jurisdictional boundaries of the Narrow River.
"We are pleased that the Town Council has chosen to
allow science and rationale to rule over bias and misinformation,"
stated Christian Gullott, Manager of Legislative & State
Affairs for the Personal Watercraft Industry Association.
PWIA has been monitoring the Narrow River situation since
mid-2002, when these localities were given authority by the
state legislature to enact local PWC rules.
Since that enabling legislation was enacted, the towns of
North Kingstown, South Kingstown and Narrangansett have been
conducting local scoping meetings to consider extreme restrictions
on personal watercraft use. PWIA has participated in all meetings
relevant to this issue in the three towns, offering support
and technological information.
"Personal watercraft manufacturers have made amazing
technological advances to make their vessels cleaner and quieter-a
fact acknowledged by National Park Service scientists and
others, but ignored by anti-boating groups because it doesn't
fit with their extreme agenda," explained Gullott. "Personal
watercraft as a type of boat should not be outlawed when many
critics in North Kingstown have specifically cited user concerns
as a reason to enact a ban. If the problem is individual user
behavior, then that should be met with strict law enforcement
targeting irresponsible users, rather than a blanket ban that
would penalize the vast majority of users who ride responsibly,"
Gullott asserted.
PWIA, representing all five manufacturers of personal watercraft,
actively advocates for state and local governments to implement
reasonable regulations such as mandatory boating safety education
for all personal watercraft operators, a minimum age of 16
to operate a PWC, use only during daylight hours, the establishment
of no-wake zones, and strict enforcement of boating safety
and navigation laws. Model legislation and other information
on personal watercraft can be viewed at www.pwia.org.
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Mr. Gullott is available for media interviews by calling
PWIA at 202-721-1621.
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