{"id":305336,"date":"2026-05-23T00:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T00:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/305336\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T00:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T00:54:16","slug":"texas-game-wardens-urge-boaters-to-prioritize-safety-ahead-of-memorial-day-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/305336\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Game Wardens Urge Boaters to Prioritize Safety Ahead of Memorial Day Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Waco, TX (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox44news.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:FOX 44;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;FOX 44&quot;}\" class=\"link \">FOX 44<\/a>) \u2013 Memorial Day Weekend is one of the busiest times outdoors across Texas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">From lakes and rivers to campgrounds and backroads, Game Wardens see thousands of families heading out to enjoy the long weekend. With the extra traffic on the water, safety becomes just as important.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Memorial Day Weekend brings a major increase in boating traffic, with both locals and out-of-town visitors crowding lakes and marinas. Before leaving the dock, make sure you have all your water safety equipment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThat\u2019s life jackets, a fire extinguisher, throw cushions, a horn whistle, or a sound-producing device,\u201d Texas Game Warden Michael Serbanic listed. \u201cYou need your certificate of number and then check and make sure if your boat\u2019s equipped with a kill-switch that you have a good lanyard that you can attach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Texas Game Wardens stress the importance of having enough properly-fitted life jackets on board, especially for children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cOne of the most important rules is to keep our kids safe,\u201d Serbanic emphasized. \u201cIf you have a kid on board a boat that\u2019s under the age of 13, they\u2019re required to have a life jacket on. So let\u2019s make sure they\u2019re buckled up and that they\u2019re safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Texas Game Wardens across the state will increase patrols on lakes. If you\u2019re pulled over on the water, Game Wardens say you should have these items ready and on hand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cYou\u2019re going to be asked for your water safety equipment, you\u2019re going to be asked if you can produce a certificate, a number for the vessel, and make sure the registration is good,\u201d Serbanic stated. \u201cAnd most importantly, we will be looking for any signs of intoxication. So if you\u2019re going to have an alcoholic beverage this weekend, please have a designated driver. Don\u2019t drive a boat and drink this weekend, please.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox44news.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44.;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44.&quot;}\" class=\"link \"> For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT &#8211; FOX 44. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Waco, TX (FOX 44) \u2013 Memorial Day Weekend is one of the busiest times outdoors across Texas. From&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[31157,105369,110655,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-305336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-game-wardens","tag-memorial-day-weekend","tag-michael-serbanic","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}