When I first came out here 20 years ago, my uncle took me tubing down the Cedar River on some tire tubes we found in the barn. For a beach bum from Florida, it was a real change of scenery, and I’m still convinced it’s the best way to see nature in Washington.

Years later, after the kids got older, I bought one of those heavy plastic “party islands” which was huge, round, and had a big hole in the center. The kids were too young for their own inner tube, and the big hole meant I could stand in it and navigate the river Fred Flintstone-style.

The kids always complained about having to wear a life jacket. “But Dad! The water is so calm!” Sure, but you’re young, and you don’t understand how powerful moving water is. Even with a life jacket, you can get sucked under a fallen tree branch. The jacket at least gives you a fighting chance, even in the worst situation.

Well, now it’s my turn to complain about life jackets. King County Executive Dow Constantine submitted a proposed law on Monday to the county council asking for a mandatory life jacket law for anyone using rivers and lakes in unincorporated King County. Violators would face an $86 fine.

The three letters of support that accompanied Dow’s letter to the council appear to have been written from the same script. Each letter referred to the “swift and cold waters” in the second paragraph. You’d think that these concerned professional letter writers could at least use a thesaurus.

But they do have a good point; I avoided the rivers last year due to the floods, since they shifted the channels of my favorite spots, and became less predictable. With that much movement of trees and rocks, it’s really not safe to take a long ride on cheap floats.

Plus, all of the extra snow that melted has made the rivers run high and fast, so I probably won’t bring the kids this year either. I don’t need the county to tell me about river conditions; I can see it for myself.

Each year, about 16 people die from accidental drowning in King County’s open waters. Of course, any loss of life like that is regrettable, but 16 people per year isn’t a public health emergency. That’s enough to rank it No. 7 of accidental death causes in the county. You’re twice as likely to be killed from walking down the street.

You might say, “We should take any measure necessary, even just to save a single life”, but that’s just not realistic. If we really felt that way, we’d immediately lower all speed limits to 15 miles an hour, require bubble wrap suits for all pedestrians, and ban everyone from getting in the river.

So what do other governing bodies do? The Army Corps of Engineers had a similar concern, but recommended against mandatory life vests. They are the nation’s largest provider of outdoor recreation, with over 2,300 recreation areas, and 372 million visits per year at its lakes, beaches and rivers. Over 1,600 people drowned in a recent 10-year period at corps-managed sites, and 92 percent of them were not wearing a life jacket.

They decided to go with education rather than penalties. They informed the public of the hazardous areas, and encourage people to wear the vests. They worked with local tour providers to offer loaner jackets. Since those efforts began, drowning deaths have dropped.

That’s the more difficult path, but it allows citizens to become more responsible. It’s far easier to just make the cops do it, but that is the lazy way out. Signs in popular areas would be cheaper than extra police patrols, and would be far more effective. Would you rather learn about river safety from an informative sign, or from an $86 ticket?

I’ll help you get this marketing effort started. The rivers are running faster this year, and the water is higher. If you aren’t an experienced open water swimmer (I’m talking hundreds of hours), you should wear a life jacket. Your kids should definitely wear them under any circumstances.

Most people who drown did so because they overestimated their abilities. Everyone thinks they are smarter than most people, funnier than average and strong swimmers. We can’t all be great at everything. Put the stupid vest on.

County council members, let’s insist on personal responsibility from our citizens this summer, and let’s keep our officers out patrolling for actual crimes.