Skier Down Flag Law in Illinois

As of January 1st, 2015 Illinois will have some new boating laws:

- You must display an orange flag from the moment a person leaves the watercraft until they return. Read a couple different versions of this, one states towed skiers/tubers and another swimmers.

- Any persons born after Jan 1, 1998 will need a boating license/certificate to operate any watercraft over 10hp

- Under certain offenses related to boating under the influence your watercraft can be seized. Have not found anything fully explaining this one other then they are trying to bring boating laws more in line with motor vehicle laws.

John B perhaps or anyone else able to clarify the flag and BUI laws??

Looks like all us Illinois boaters need to buy some flags, anybody have any suggestions on a good bright orange flag 12" per side??

read your flag rules carefully.
in MO flags are not required until 11:00 am.

sorry if this has already been mentioned, didn't read the entire thread.

In Arizona I got stopped and harassed for having a faded flag. It was early in the morning so I don't think he was looking for drunks just being a jerk. In Tenn. I came around a bend in the river and found a kid floating by himself. Tenn. didn't have a flag or a spotter law so that may have been a good argument for a having spotter law. We got the kid on board and a boat eventually came back for him. He fell off a tube and they didn't notice. So since they had people in the boat and they weren't watching I guess a spotter law wouldn't have helped. So the bottom line is stupid laws aren't going to stop stupid people from doing stupid things.

it really only communicates that there is stuff like people ropes and gear in the water so people who follow the rules then give wider berth because a rope can be out 80-90-100 feet....normally a boat just sitting you can go a little closer to...like most rules only works when people know and follow it. it isn't an invisible force field that will shield you from all possibilities. it does work the same way no matter the size of water on. we have huge lakes here and it works the same way in tight sloughs and open big lakes. it communicates thats all.

I would think CA has the details on how to use the flag figured out by now.

I do see some benefit on a river or something like the delta when you come around a bend and there is a random boat idling around. It raises awareness. However, even without a flag you'd still have to choose to unsafely pass by too close too fast to ever create a collision. I just don't see it helping whatsoever on a wide open lake where it takes a combination of extreme neglect from both parties to result in what happened on the Chain last summer. Simply put, I don't think it is going to make the waters here safer on a state wide level.

bkhallpass wrote: Get over it. That law passed over 45 years ago in California. No big deal. Mostly it gives the cops another way to find drunk boat drivers who are too drunk to remember to put the flag up. BKH

Same here!

We are obligated to have two flags: a yellow one and a red one.
The yellow one should be raised when a skier has fallen, the red one should be raised when you have engine problems or a leak...

Hardly anybody uses them. But you get a fine if you don't have them on board.

74Wind wrote: Gary S wrote: Typical knee jerk reaction,we have to do something let's make it a law! While it was a terrible thing that happened, a flag would not have stopped or even helped. I cannot comment on the Lake County end but I do know in the McHenry County end of the chain, the laws in place now are not enforced. The only way to get stopped is when you don't have the user fee sticker displayed.We had better start writing our reps Lake Oconee GA has 374 miles of shoreline and is typically deserted so not an issue, and I've never once seen any form of law enforcement craft, but gotta ask...what is a "user fee sticker"???

The user fee pays for the nearly $4,000,000 budget to maintain and provide patrol and emergency services to the chain. It is a user fee that to me seems more fair than passing the costs on to those taxpayers who may never ride in a boat and may not have extra money in their personal budgets to subsidize our boating habit.
Fox Waterway Agency budget

Gary S wrote: Typical knee jerk reaction,we have to do something let's make it a law! While it was a terrible thing that happened, a flag would not have stopped or even helped. I cannot comment on the Lake County end but I do know in the McHenry County end of the chain, the laws in place now are not enforced. The only way to get stopped is when you don't have the user fee sticker displayed.We had better start writing our reps

Lake Oconee GA has 374 miles of shoreline and is typically deserted so not an issue, and I've never once seen any form of law enforcement craft, but gotta ask...what is a "user fee sticker"???

Gary S wrote: If I recall the guy that ran over the child had coke and alcohol in his system, don't think he was in any shape to see anything anyway.While I cannot imagine what the parents went thru,and feel bad for them, I question why they chose to go out when and where they did. Im sure it goes without saying if they had to do it all over--- "Encompassing more than 7,100 acres (29 km2) of water, 488 miles (785 km) of shoreline and 45 miles (72 km) of river, the Chain is the busiest inland recreational waterway per acre in the United States".

Because it's the "busiest" is exactly why you need the flag.

I've heard that some law enforcement frowns on using the flag for swimming.

I forgot to say it's also up if you have a ski or other device in the water.

The flag is about towing...not swimming, I understand why people do it but it's better to swim where you don't need to warn others with the flag or it will start to get ignored.

I'll bet no one even heard about this one,I guess when you do it to
yourself it's ok. Maybe every pier needs lights. Rumor has it this
guy,who did not survive,had something in his system too. And to think the 25mph night time law did not prevent this Pier on the left
is what he hit first.

If I recall the guy that ran over the child had coke and alcohol in his system, don't think he was in any shape to see anything anyway.While I cannot imagine what the parents went thru,and feel bad for them, I question why they chose to go out when and where they did. Im sure it goes without saying if they had to do it all over---
"Encompassing more than 7,100 acres (29 km2) of water, 488 miles (785 km) of shoreline and 45 miles (72 km) of river, the Chain is the busiest inland recreational waterway per acre in the United States".

John B, it's actually illegal to have the flag up when towing in California. Else, people would just put it up and leave it up all day. Wouldn't mean much. I know that to be the case in Kansas as well. I haven't checked the other 11 states that have flag laws.

Andy, I think you can outlaw stupidity, that's kind of what this law attempts to do. But, I agree with you tht you can't eliminate stupidity. We put the flag out when we stop for a swim as well. Around here it's enforced antime someone is on the platform, or in the water. Also agree that it probably saves as many ropes as anything.

Side note, you will find out quickly how stupid your non-boating friends are. Give them a simple task to raise the flag, when the skier is in the water. Guarantee you find them drinking a beer, fiddling with the stereo, staring at girls in another boat. You'll have to tell them all day long "put the flag up." Then, give the flag to an 8 year old. They'll treat it like a life or death responsiblity, every time. So what did California do, they raised the age of those who can do flag duty to 12 years old. Go figure.

BKH

Hmmm, only raise it when a skier has fallen? Sounds a bit odd.
I like the flag law on Lake Springfield and other lakes in Illinois, but that law requires that you fly a flag any time you are pulling. My brother and I have found that the considerate boaters (the majority on Lake Springfield) see the flag and give you and your skier more room and try to stay away. I typically fly one when I tow for that reason and have had a good reception. To only raise it when a skier is down is contrary to most flag laws and may be confusing to people accustomed to abiding by them. I don't see where it is a real inconvenience when used at all times. Good skiers are easy to spot.
I had an idiot run over my tow rope at full speed while my daughter was in the water a few years back and there were only a few boats on the lake.

X2

If it came this way it really wouldn't affect most of my skiing anyway. I rarely tow in Illinois with enforcement on the water. That doesn't mean I wouldn't mind it though.