Nearly 80 million people take to the nation’s inland and coastal waterways each year, either as recreational boat operators or as passengers. Are you one of them? How savvy are you at avoiding hazards? Consider these points:
- What causes most boating accidents? Speed, operator inattention, and sometimes alcohol use. Also, lack of formal boating safety education figures prominently in approximately 86 percent of boating fatalities. Basic training in navigation, safety procedures, and boat handling is critically important.
- Is bad weather a problem? Much less so. Most boaters know to check the weather forecast and to monitor marine radio weather reports while they’re on the water. Boaters caught in fast-moving storms should know what to do if they can’t make it back to shore.
- What can boaters do to aid Search and Rescue? Always file a Float Plan listing the name and type of boat, destination, names of any passengers onboard, and other critical information. Leave a copy with the marina manager or anyone who will notice if you don’t show up after an agreed-upon number of hours. Also, an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) on board will bring help right to the boat.
- Is there one thing boaters could do to significantly reduce fatalities? Wear a life jacket. Drowning accounts for two-thirds of all recreational boating fatalities. We estimate that 90 percent of those victims might have been saved had they been wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident.
For more information see the U.S. Coast Guard’s Boating Safety website at uscgboating.org.
