Wear Your Lifejacket, Don’t Drink – Simple Tips to Stay Alive on the Water
Your mother told you to eat your veggies. The U.S. Coast Guard recommends you wear a life jacket on the water. Both health-promoting and life-saving tips seem like such commonsense mariners shouldn’t need a reminder. However, veggies aside, the U.S. Coast Guard’s August-released 2021 Recreational Boating Statistics Report has good news and bad.
On the good side, boating safety improved with a 15.4 percent drop in the fatality rate per 100,000 registered vessels in the US.
The bad is that 81% of fatal boating incident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims with reported life jacket usage, 83% were not wearing a life jacket.
The report also identified alcohol as the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating incidents and the leading factor in 16% of deaths.
“Boating is one of the safest forms of recreation out there, but the data reconfirms to me that deaths associated with not wearing a life jacket and alcohol are among the most preventable,” said Paul Barnard, Recreational Boating Safety Program Specialist, U.S. Coast Guard Eighth District, in a press release. “It gives us a great sense of urgency to educate boaters and give them the knowledge and skills they need to stay safe.” www.watersportsfoundation.com
Bluewater Crew Training USA Offers Safe Boating Education for Recreational Boaters
Carol Bareuther has written for ALL AT SEA since 2004.
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