AUGUST 2, 2015
SUMTER, SC (WIS) -
With 13 boating-related deaths so far this summer in the Palmetto State, state officials are now seeking the public’s input evaluating and possibly changing South Carolina boating laws.
That’s the focus of six community meetings planned by the state Department of Natural Resources taking place through September 8. DNR officials say the purpose of the gatherings is to collect feedback on what regulations and guidelines are working and which may need to be amended.
The first meeting took place in Sumter on the night of July 28. Those who weighed in on discussion at the meeting included one area family that was touched by tragedy last summer.
On July 4, 2014, Hailey Bordeaux, a junior education major at USC, lost her life in a boat crash on Lake Marion. Investigators said the aspiring teacher was sitting at a dock in a boat with three other people when a second boat crashed into them. Bordeaux died at the scene.
"I feel really confident that if there would have been more DNR presence on that lake that night, Hailey may still be here,” Hailey’s father Shawn Bordeaux said.
Bordeaux said he’s also advocating for new rules regarding boat lighting as well as creating speeding restrictions for boaters operating at night.
“It's not trying to take away from people trying to have fun on the lake, but just to be careful,” Hailey’s mother Pam Bordeaux said.
Criminal charges were filed against 38-year-old Chad Morris. He’s the man that authorities argue was driving the boat that hit Hailey and her friends. A trial date in the case has yet to be set.
To find a full list of the remaining boat regulation meetings scheduled by DNR just head to our homepage and click on the Big Red 10.