“At the end of the day, we are talking about people’s lives, not just the lives that are lost, but the lives of the ones who lose – who lose their sons like Sam, who lose daughters, who lose brothers, sisters, friends and partners.”.
It would also create a legal responsibility to provide, maintain and ensure easy and rapid access to safety equipment around reservoirs, and expand water safety learning outcomes in the national curriculum.
The Doncaster MP acknowledged there would be a cost to landowners for maintenance of safety equipment, but said reservoirs were “fundamentally different from most other bodies of water”.
Lee Pitcher, Labour MP for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, presented the proposed legislation, known as Sam’s Law, to the Commons with a number of measures designed to prevent drownings in open water.
Mr Pitcher said Sam’s father had become “a champion of water safety” in the wake of his son’s death.
