Accidents Up, Death Down
According
to a report from the United States Coast Guard, boating deaths are down,
but accidents and damage is up:
Top
causes for all accidents revealed by 2007 statistics remain fairly consistent
with previous years. Operator inattention, careless/reckless operation,
passenger/skier behavior, excessive speed, and alcohol use rank as the
top five contributing factors. Alcohol use is the leading contributing
factor in fatal boating accidents; it was listed as the leading factor
in 21% of the deaths. Where instruction data was submitted, three fourths
of the deaths occurred on boats where the operator had not received boating
safety instruction. Over two-thirds of those killed in boating accidents
drowned, and of those, 90 percent were not wearing life jackets. Read
the report.
On
a related note, you may wish to take a look at the rather lengthy H.
R. 2830, the 2008 appropriations bill for the Coasties…
