SEATTLE — The King County sheriff said the county’s new life vest law that went into effect July 1 appears to be working.
About two-thirds of people in major King County rivers are now wearing personal floatation devices. The deputies who regularly patrol the rivers said use of life vests is up significantly over previous years.
Since the ordinance went into effect, sheriff’s deputies have given more than 100 written warnings but haven’t issued any tickets yet. Sheriff Sue Rahr said they haven’t found any repeat offenders so the program seems to be working. She said the goal is to educate the public about the danger of rivers and get voluntary compliance with the law.
Most of the violators have been people from the Seattle area floating down rivers. The law applies only to unincorporated King County.
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