Do you have a license to drive that boat?

Boaters are responsible by law for damage they cause with their boats' wakes. The death by drowning on the St. Croix River Saturday was probably caused by the wake of a passing boat. "We were just swimming.... All of a sudden, this big wave came."

There may be a boater oblivious to the death his or her boat may have helped to cause.

My wife and I traveled 7,000 miles on our boat and were waked by fast boats in 22 states and Canada. The problem is so prevalent that one name-brand boat has become a verb, synonymous with being waked by a fast, rude, oblivious boater.

In most states, an adult can buy a boat and, without any knowledge of safe boating practices, go out and roar around on the water.

We require automobile drivers to have licenses. It's time to discuss licensing boaters.