Richard Droesbeke, boating education coordinator for the state, gives an example of how Utah boaters may not know as much as they think and could benefit from some basic training.

"Every year at the boat show we have a booth and offer a 10-question quiz. People will come up and say things like, 'I've been boating for 30 years, so sure I'll take your quiz,"' he says.

"I have found that consistently, from year to year, the average score is only five or six correct" out of 10. That is a D-minus or F for knowledge among boaters about basic safety and navigation rules.

Questions this year ask which boats would have the right of way in different situations, on which side boats should pass navigation buoys, how much distance should be kept from other boats and fishermen, and what times of day water skiing is permitted. Droesbeke said all that should be common boater knowledge.

Utah law requires very little formal boating education. It requires classes only for those youth ages 12 to 17 who want to operate personal watercraft on their own.

Some states require much more. Alabama, Connecticut and Hawaii require it for all boat operators. Another 22 states require it for people born after certain dates (exempting some adults) or are phasing in education requirements. Nineteen, including Utah, require some training for some teenagers.

Only six states have even more lax boating education requirements than Utah and require no training for anyone: Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, South Dakota and Wyoming.

A study this year by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators found that the longer a state has had boating education requirements, the lower the fatality rate. Those with no education requirements have the highest fatality rates.

Harris notes that Utah officials have attempted three times in the past decade to push legislation to require boating education for all boat operators. "It never went far," he said. Last year, a legislative interim committee declined to sponsor a bill that Harris and others sought to mandate such training.

Meanwhile, Utah offers a voluntary boat education course available through the Internet at www.boat-ed.com/ut/.

"We have fewer than 200 people take it a year," Harris said. Droesbeke said the state this year is offering free T-shirts as an added incentive to those who take it and pass. Harris said insurance companies also usually offer discounts to graduates.

Harris said an example of how education may help is shown by its mandated training for youths who want to use personal watercraft.