Boating Safety is No Accident
2009 Boating Safety Statistics
The Coast Guard estimates that there are over 12.7 million boats registered in America. In 2009 there were 4,730 boat accidents resulting in 736 deaths, 3,358 injuries, and approximately $36 million dollars in property damage. Almost three-fourths of all fatal boating accidents drowned, and of those, 84% were not wearing a life jacket. Are you wearing your life jacket?
Alcohol use is the leading contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; it was listed as the leading factor in 16% of the deaths.
Only 14% of deaths occurred on boats where the operator had received boating safety instruction. The U.S. Power Squadrons offers great boating safety instruction at America's Boating Course. You can also find more courses at the USCG Boating Safety Resource Center.
To see the full 2009 Coast Guard Boating Statistics report go to: http://www.uscgboating.org/assets/1/workflow_staging/Publications/394.PDF
Typical Boating Accident
It is a Saturday in July between the hours of 2:30 and 4:30 with calm 70 to 79 degree water, light wind (0-6 mph) and good visibility typically in California, Louisiana, Texas or Florida. The boaters are 36 to 55 years of age out for a recreational cruise on a lake, pond, reservoir, dam or gravel pit in a 16 to 26 foot fiberglass open boat with a 76 to 150 hp engine built before 1996. The boat operators have 101 to 500 hours of boating experience and 79% of them have had no formal safe boating instruction. The conditions are perfect for operator inattention and the boating accident happens at 10 to 20 mph with a collision to another vessel.
Boater Safety Responsibilities
As the operator, captain, or skipper of a boat, you are responsible for your vessel and the safety of those aboard and for others in the boat’s vicinity. You are also responsible for swimmers, water-skiers and anyone else who may be affected by your boat’s course or wake. It doesn’t matter if you have the right away or not, you are ultimately responsible.
If you rent a boat and are stopped for a boat safety inspection and the boating safety inspector discovers that some of the required boat safety equipment is missing, you as the captain could get fined, not the person who rented the boat to you. It is the responsibility of the boat’s captain to have all of the required boat safety equipment, not the person who rented the boat to you.
The captain is always responsible for the boat's wake and any damage that it may cause. Not only is the captain responsible for the boats wake in a "No Wake Zone," but anywhere else that the boat's wake may cause damage as well.
It is the boat operator’s responsibility to make sure that no one on the boat does anything to endanger the vessel or the other passengers. If one of the boat’s crew members starts a fight with someone else the operator of the boat may be held responsible.
Boating Safety Instruction
The key to safe boating is to be knowledgeable. Boat operators can take boater safety training classes offered by the Unites States Coast Guard Auxiliary and learn about boating laws and boating safety rules of the local area they will be operating in. In addition, the classes may cover topics such as; boat safety equipment, boating rules, calling for help and survival. It is the boat operator’s responsibility to know the boating safety laws and have the proper boat safety equipment and life jackets for the local area.
