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Coast Guard 2009 Report Has Lessons on Boat Accident Prevention

This month, the United States Coast Guard released its annual report about boating accidents, injuries and fatalities for the year 2009.  The report comes just in time for Labor Day, when millions of Americans will be out celebrating the holiday weekend on the water.  Consider this-according to the Coast Guard report, only about 2% of all boating accidents in the US in 2009 were caused by mechanical malfunctioning or engine failure.  The rest were all caused by some degree of operator error.

Some of the findings that came out in the report:

1. In 2009, there were 4,730 boating accidents in the United States.  These caused 736 deaths and 3,358 injuries.
2. Recreational boating accidents in 2009 resulted in $36 million worth of property damage.
3. There was an increase in fatalities per 100,000 registered boats.  There were 5.8 deaths for every 100,000 registered boats last year, compared to the previous year’s rate of 5.6 deaths for every 100,000 registered boats.
4. The number of deaths and accidents in 2009 actually decreased.  The number of accidents dropped by 1.23%, and the number of deaths decreased by 3.81%.
5. However, the number of injuries in boating accidents increased by .81%.
6. Analyzing the statistics, it seems clear that the usual culprits like alcohol use, speeding and inattention are responsible for most boating accidents, and not engine malfunctioning of failure.
7. Only 14% of the boating accidents involved a boat whose operator had received some form of boating instruction.
8. Approximately 75 % of all boat accident victims who died, drowned, and of these 84% were not wearing a life jacket.
9. According to the Coast Guard, the top five causes of boating accidents in 2009, were operator inexperience, inattention, speeding, alcohol use and improper lookout.
10. Alcohol use was the single biggest cause of boating accidents in 2009.  It was a factor in about 16% of all boat accident fatalities.  However, the weather was the biggest contributing factor in boat accidents in 2009, contributing to at least 24% of all fatal accidents.
11. 543 boaters died from drowning, and of these, 85% died when they were on a vessel that was 26 feet or smaller.  These vessels include kayaks and canoes
12. 15.5% of boating accident fatalities were the result of the boat colliding with another boat or object.

There are many lessons to take home from the Coast Guard report.  Make sure you have some kind of boating training before you operate a boat.  Avoid mixing boating with alcohol.  Operate your vessel at safe speeds, and make sure that you and everybody else on the vessel is wearing a personal flotation device.  In case of an emergency, try to stay on the boat as much as possible.  Your chances of drowning increase with every second you’re in the water.  Stay alert at the wheel.  If you’re out on the water in a small outboard boat, California boat accident lawyers would advise you to be extra careful.  Approximately 52% of all boating accident fatalities in 2009 occurred on these kinds of small motorboats.  These boats are typically easier to capsize.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of boating accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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