SAN ANTONIO – Texans taking a driver education course are now required to view a 10 minute video highlighting the dangers of boating, thanks to a law supported by Rep. Lyle Larson (TX D-122) of San Antonio.
There were more than 200 boating accidents and 22 deaths on Texas waterways last year.
Larson hopes the new law will enlighten people on safety precautions that are vital but often ignored.
The video titled "Never Happens," highlights the stories of those affected by boating accidents in a stark and sobering manner.
"Their jet ski crushed my knee into eight pieces, lacerated my spleen, liver and pancreas," said one accident victim in the video.
Others tell of the lifelong reminders they carry with them after an accident.
"I see the look in his eyes sometimes when I'm sleeping," said another victim in the video.
Larson said a driver education course is the perfect place to teach boating safety.
"I think the video is directed at the right audience," Larson said. "They're going to be a whole lot more alert to what they're listening to. This 10 minute video, I think hits a chord with most folks."
Larson, who helped get funding for the video, lost a 14-year-old cousin to drowning, and said water safety rules should be learned at an early age.
"It's something that's very close to me," Larson said. "I hope that it resonates with young folks in the next couple of decades. A lot of times you'll see young kids driving boats and they've had no training."
James Wells was boating on Canyon Lake July 3 and agreed that things sometimes get crazy on the water.
"You really got to watch for other people," Wells said.
Nearly a quarter million Texas 15 and 16-year-olds will learn boating safety thanks to the video.
They learn things like: wear a life jacket, learn to swim and use a kill switch in the boat.
A kill switch is a device that is attached to the boat and to the person driving the boat.
If the driver becomes disconnected from the boat during an accident, the engine shuts off automatically.
Larson said that can prevent a tragedy.
"Once you get thrown out, you'll come back around in circles and a lot of times folks have been run over by their own boat," Larson said.
It was four years ago on Canyon Lake that Scott Freund died in a boating accident.
His brother Pat said he was an avid boater on a short run, but he forgot one important rule.
"We think he probably had a heart attack, fell in the water, didn't have a jacket on so he just ended up drowning," Pat Freund said. "The cause of death was drowning but he did have 90 percent blockage in an artery."
Freund said his brother could not be found for an agonizing 15 days.
His family set up the Scott Freund Foundation to support boater safety and helped sponsor the video.
"That just brought to attention the need for being safe on the water," Freund said. "We started this foundation to create just an awareness for being smart out on the water. If we can reach the masses like that, that's a great way to spend the money."
He said the foundation is already providing benefits.
"We've invested in the game wardens here in this area with new side sonar imaging and then training them on that," Freund said.
The foundation has also purchased life jackets that inflate when wet.
"It automatically inflates, it has a CO2 cartridge in there that will actually turn you with your head up," Freund said.
He said the foundation will be worth it if even one life is saved on Texas waterways.
Below is the full "Never Happens" video as it will be shown in driver education classes.