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Some good
news on the national boating front — fatalities
from boating accidents dropped again in 2004 to 676 fatalities,
a 4% drop from 703 fatalities in 2003. While the U.S.
Coast Guard’s final report was not yet out by
presstime, 676 will set a new record low for boating
fatalities since statistics were first kept in the
1970s. The previous annual lowest figure was 681 fatalities
in 2001.
The figures released by the Coast Guard are compiled
by reports from each state and U.S. territory. The
2004 figures also show that boat registrations in the
U.S. have actually remained flat at 12,781,476, compared
to 12,794,616 in 2003.
As in past years, about 70% of fatalities were due
to drowning and in 89% of these the victim did not
wear a life jacket. Also, one-third of boating fatalities
were alcohol related.
In 2003, boating fatalities dropped 6% from the previous
year and overall, boating safety is a major success
story. Fatalities have been on a downward path for
three decades even as the number of recreational boats
in the U.S. has more than doubled since the 1970s when
boating accident statistics were first collected. Equally
encouraging is the fact that fatalities are dropping
even after swimming accident fatalities were added
as a reportable boating accident category in 2002.
This increased by about 30 per year fatalities counted
as boating accidents in which a person voluntarily
leaves a boat and then drowns.
To view or download the Coast
Guard accident reports, go to uscgboating.org and
go to “Statistics.” |
