Boating Deaths

[Chris]

I deal with alot of statistics in my day job. I find them fascinating, and I have access to alot of them.

This is something I ran across, from the USCG-

• Over two-thirds of all fatal boating accident victims drowned, and of those, ninety (90) percent were not wearing a life jacket.

• Only fourteen (14) percent of deaths occurred on vessels where the operator had received boating safety instruction.

• Operator inattention, careless/reckless operation, passenger/skier behavior,
excessive speed, and alcohol use rank as the top five primary contributing factors in accidents.

• Alcohol use is the leading contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; it was listed as the leading factor in 21% of the deaths.

You can see the whole document here-

http://www.uscgboating.org/statistics/Boating_Statistics_2007.pdf

 

[Airpacker]

Pretty simple really. Booze = bad. Life jacket = good

I wonder how many drunk fishermen would be alive today if they had been wearing a p.f.d. ?

 

[MarylandMark]

I'm ok with all of that since they are self inflicted. I think the responding agencies should be able to re-coup the cost of the search from the estate as well. You and your passengers have a choice.

Lanyards- now you are putting me in danger as well..

 

[Brain Damage]

what percentage are people minding there own bussiness and hit by some young boater?