Life-jacket and emergency-help rules to know before the July Fourth weekend on the water

By GvilleTX Newsroom

Boaters heading out from the Whitesboro area for the Fourth of July weekend are subject to a Texas rule that children under 13 must wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket whenever a recreational boat shorter than 26 feet is moving, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. The same agency tells every boater to wear a life jacket at all times, not simply keep one stowed on board.

State law, as described on the department's life-jacket page, also requires adults to have properly fitting life jackets within easy reach on the vessel. Texas Parks and Wildlife urges boaters to wear life jackets at all times.

Lake Texoma, the reservoir on the Texas-Oklahoma line, draws more than 6 million visitors a year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the lake. That volume extends the weekend's safety guidance well past any single town.

The Corps' Tulsa District, which oversees Texoma, tells visitors to use caution while boating, fishing or swimming and to make sure everyone aboard has a properly fitting life jacket. Its water-safety guidance adds steps that short holiday reminders often skip. The Corps recommends filing a float plan with a responsible person on shore so someone knows the route and the expected return time. It advises checking the forecast before launching and carrying a weather radio. If a storm moves in, the guidance says, life jackets should stay on.

For what to do after an accident, Texas Parks and Wildlife directs anyone involved in a boating accident to contact a local game warden, local law enforcement or the department's 24-hour dispatch line. Knowing that contact chain before leaving the dock is part of the preparation the agencies describe.

Whitesboro's fire department is led by Fire Chief Steve Pinkston, who is listed in that role on the city's official fire-department directory. The published city record reviewed for this report did not include a holiday boating-safety statement attributed to the chief, so the safety guidance here comes from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Army Corps of Engineers rather than from city officials.

The weekend's main points come down to a handful of items both agencies repeat. Children under 13 are required by state law to wear an approved life jacket on smaller boats while underway. Adults should keep correctly sized jackets within reach, and state wildlife officials urge wearing them. Anyone planning a day on Texoma can file a float plan, watch the weather and keep a way to call for help close at hand.