More than half the boats stopped at Current River checkpoint fail inspection

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- More than half of the boats stopped Saturday afternoon at safety equipment checkpoints on Current River failed to pass inspection by the Missouri State Water Patrol.

"We try to do a few equipment inspections per summer, and Doniphan was just one of the locations the supervisors of the district selected," explained Sgt. Brian Shelton.

Doniphan, he said, has "much, much more boats" than other stretches of Current River.

"Doniphan has a massive amount of boat traffic," Shelton said. "The horsepower of the boats in the Doniphan area continues to increase in the last decades. ... The boats are getting bigger and faster."

During their briefing, Shelton went over what equipment was to be checked and how the checkpoints would be conducted.

"Any boat that turns around and wants to leave; those are the ones we want," said Cpl. Terry Richardson, who reminded the officers to make note of who is operating the boat in case someone tries to change drivers.

From 5 to 8 p.m., the seven Water Patrol officers, with the assistance of officers from the Ripley County Sheriff's Department and Doniphan Police Department, operated checkpoints at Deer Leap and about six miles downstream near the Doniphan boat ramp.

The boats were to be checked to determine if operators had registration, the proper number of personal flotation devices, a throwable device, fire extinguisher and sound-producing device (horn or whistle) on board.

Of the 49 boats stopped, 29 did not pass the inspections because they were lacking the proper safety devices, Shelton said.

While the number of boats was about what Shelton expected given how "late in the year we have gotten," he said, the 29 is a "higher number of equipment deficiencies than what I expected. The majority of our boats did not pass the equipment inspection."

Those boats, he said, did not have the safety equipment they are required to carry under Chapter 306.100 of the state statutes.

Of those that were not approved, "it wasn't as if they weren't carrying anything; they were missing a piece of equipment they were required to carry; therefore, they could not pass the inspection," Shelton said. "They could have had a fire extinguisher, but not a fully-charged fire extinguisher.

"They're required to carry a fully-charged fire extinguisher."

Some, he said, were short life jackets or a throw cushion.

One boat Shelton inspected had four adults and 11 life jackets on board, but only three were adult life jackets.

Shelton issued a warning, but "usually that's a ticketable offense," he said.

Shelton said it is always a good idea to carry extra life jackets.

"When you're out on the river amongst friends, it is possible you could be carrying an extra person or two," he said.

No one, Shelton said, anticipates being in a boating accident. "When an accident occurs it's very important to have a flotation device for every person in the boat," he said.

Shelton said 20 boats did have all the required equipment and were given Water Patrol stickers to signify they passed the inspection. Those stickers exempt the boats from being checked in any future boat inspections in 2009.

There were five boating while intoxicated arrests at the Deer Leap checkpoint, Shelton said. "They were processed at the scene; they had a certified BA (blood-alcohol) machine there and a portable fingerprint station," he said.

According to Shelton, there also was one citation issued, as well as 50 warnings.

Twenty-three of those warnings and 11 of the approved inspections were done by Shelton and patrolmen Brian Foster and Steven Hogan on the gravel bar across from the Doniphan boat ramp.

With red lights flashing on his boat, Richardson directed boat after boat onto the gravel bar.

As the officers were conducting inspections on the first three boats, the gravel bar began lining up with additional boats and personal water crafts waiting for inspections.

"We were slammed our first hour," Shelton said. "They were busy (at Deep Leap) the first hour, and from that point on, their traffic came in spurts," he said.

Public safety, Shelton said, was their No. 1 concern.

"We won't do anything to impede the flow of traffic" and create a hazard to the public, he said.

No boats went by either checkpoint without being stopped, Shelton said.

"They stopped every boat up above us, too," Shelton said. "We asked if they were backed up to the point it was a safety issue to the public, and they had to let traffic through.

"Lt. (Jeff) Bair thought at one point they might, but they caught up."

Shelton said he counted five boats that came through the boat ramp checkpoint, which had been stopped in the other block.

"In the grand scheme, that's not really very many when you're stopping that many boats and that many people," said Shelton. "That tells me we were spread out far enough that the same people weren't being stopped over and over again."