Boating & Diving Safety
Boating & Diving Safety
Making these incidents a thing of the past
Carter wants to make sure that no one experiences what he went through again. There were several preventative safety factors in the accident that could have stopped this from happening.
The Carter Viss Foundation serves as a source to educate the community about the importance of following boating and diving safety protocols.
We educate boating and diving safety through distributing information to the public, producing videos that demonstrate safe practices and participating in community events.
Boating Safety
One of the main factors that caused Carter’s incident was the simple but crucial concept of the boater not being aware of their surroundings
The boat operator was speeding towards a popular nearshore dive spot on a day where the diving conditions were perfect. In fact, the boat was going approximately 45 mph at the point where it struck Carter and was only about 700 feet off of the beach. If the boat was moving slower in the area, they could have maneuvered the boat away from Carter in time to prevent the tragedy.
Diving Safety precautionary equipment
As someone who loves to snorkel off the beach, Carter took all the required safety protocols seriously
Carter was always towing the standard 12 inch by 12 inch divers down flag behind him. However, this two dimensional flag was not seen by the boat until it was too late.
In order to prevent a divers down device from going unnoticed by a boat, we promote the use of a three dimensional buoy.
This buoy can be seen from any angle and in any conditions by a boat. If more of these buoys would be used by snorkelers, we believe there would be far less incidents with boats.
Another safety protocol Carter followed that saved his life that day was having a dive buddy with him. Andy was the first to reach him after the strike and prevented Carter from drowning. We aim to emphasize the importance of having a dive buddy in all of our programs.
TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Most importantly, the boating community and the diving community are made of the same people who are passionate for the water. If we work together and apply safer practices, we can get the highest level of enjoyment and appreciation for the ocean.
