With the Fourth of July just around the corner, more people than usual will be out in their boats on the lakes enjoying the long weekend and taking in the patriotic sights.

But with the summer fun comes more boating accidents displaying the need for boat safety, said Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office water patrol deputy Matt Levorson.

Common boating accidents and incidents are due to extra traffic on the lakes, he said, therefore people should exercise extra caution in boating activities.

Everyone should wear life jackets, Levorson said, and there should be enough life jackets in the boat for all the passengers. On boats 16 feet or longer, a throw cushion or Type 4 throwable device is required on board.

All boaters should check their navigation lights before they go out at night, he said. The Sheriff’s Office will write tickets for boaters whose lights don’t work. With about 150 boats on the water to watch the fireworks, lights that don’t work create a safety hazard.

Packing loads of people on a boat to go out and watch the fireworks can also be dangerous, Levorson said.

“Everybody wants to go out, and they want to fit everybody in there,” he said.

Levorson recommends boaters check the capacity plate that states how many people or how many pounds the boat can hold and abide by the lower of the two.

Drivers need to be aware of themselves and their passengers. Levorson said people should drive boats defensively.

“Watch out for yourselves, because you can control what you’re doing but you can’t always control what other people are doing,” he said.

When the boat is in motion, passengers should be sitting down inside the boat below the boat’s sides or back. Passengers can’t sit on the back platform when the boat is in motion.

Drinking can become a safety hazard while boating. The driver of the boat can drink while driving, but he is not allowed to have a blood-alcohol level over the .08 limit, Levorson said. Passengers can drink on the boat, but again he advises drivers be aware of what drinking passengers are doing.

With the safe and sober campaign going on out on the streets, boaters are not immune, Levorson said.

With the increased boat traffic out this weekend, Levorson said he and the Sheriff’s Office will be out checking for drivers over the drinking limit and any other dangerous activity.

He said he will confiscate any fireworks that are shot off boats. Lighting fireworks while boating is dangerous because people and other boats are in such close proximity. Fireworks could cause a fire if it hits the open gas tank. It is difficult to escape from a dangerous situation created by fireworks on boats, which leads to burns.

All illegal fireworks will be confiscated, Levorson said, whether they are lit or not.

All boats should have fire extinguishers on board.

When Levorson and the sheriff’s deputies are out this weekend, Levorson said they will be ticketing if a boat does not have current registration.

While there are many rules for boating and many things to be aware of, Levorson still said people should “have a safe and fun weekend.”