Increased Patrols On Land And Water For Holiday

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — It’s July 4th, and that means boaters are out enjoying local lakes, but so is the Department of Natural Resources. “We try to have everybody out here, making sure everybody behaves on the lake,” says Lt. McCullough, SCDNR. Lt. McCullough with the SCDNR, says anywhere from twelve to fourteen patrolman are out on Lake Murray this holiday, that’s double the normal six. The Department of Natural Resources has also partnered with the South Carolina Highway Patrol again this year for the 100 Deadly Days of Summer. As of Monday, three people have died in Lexington and Sumter counties. That’s something SCDNR officials do not want to see happen on the lake, so they are patrolling to check for a few things. “Everybody having their PFD’s, making sure they’ve got the right PFD for them, because that is going to save lives. Of all the fatalities we have, boating related, probably a good 75-80% of them would not be a fatality, if someone was wearing a life jacket. Another thing we are looking for is, people operating in a neg-legit manner, doing what they are not suppose to be doing, like drinking and driving,” says McCullough. But boaters have to do their part too. “Your just have to slow down, you know it only takes one crazy person going too fast to cause an accident,” says Joe Cantwell, Lake Murray boater. Cantwell has been on Lake Murray all weekend and he says keeping an eye out for traffic is very important. “You’ve got to make sure that you keep your head on a swivel, always make sure you are looking around to see if the other guy is getting close to you or something like that,” says Cantwell. Lt. McCullough agrees that observance is key to staying safe on the lake. ” Other than wearing your life jacket, is being cognitive of other people on the lake, you’ve got to know where everybody is,” says Lt. McCullough