Boating Safety Advice, Do not Spoil the Fun

Author: Mark Harris

Fortunately, the majority of boaters take the responsibility of practicing boating safety seriously. But we’ve all seen our share of boating mishaps, breakdowns and careless maneuvers. Luckily, most of the time, no one gets hurt and we can laugh at someone else’s boating bloopers.

Sadly, some boating accidents do lead to tragedy. The sobering truth is that these accidents are usually preventable and avoidable with a little safe boating perspective and practice.

The good news is that boating accidents and fatalities have been on the decline over the last twenty years. The US Coast Guard reports that 697 fatalities occurred in 2005 with 12,942.414 registered boats. That is 5.1 fatalities per 100,000 registered boats. This is down from 924 fatalities in 1991 with 11,068,440 registered boats, or 8.3 fatalities per 100,000 boats.

That is almost a 65% reduction in fatalities over the last 25 years. This boating safety trend is largely attributed to improved boating safety education and courses paid for by your boating tax dollars. In order to acquire a boating license in most of the 50 states in the US, every boater is required to pass an exam that demonstrates knowledge and familiarity with boating safety regulations.

Boating is great fun and it can be tempting to let your guard down and neglect important boating safety measures in the desire to get out on the water. Consider that nothing spoils a fun day of boating more than a breakdown, mishap, accident or injury. To be sure, the best way to have fun with your boat is to always be safe.

In many ways, boating safety is common sense. While boaters can make careless mistakes, most should be smart enough to know that flames and cigarettes need to be extinguished before fueling a boat. With all of the safety awareness that is presented to boaters, hopefully everyone is aware that life jackets are required safety equipment on every boat. By the way, nearly 80% of boating related fatalities every year result from drowning.

OK, so a lot of these boating safety measures seem obvious. But there is a fair amount of safety knowledge and awareness that you need to know. Not only to pass the boating license examinations, but more important, to insure your safety and the safety of your boating passengers. And the boating safety rules and regulations can vary from state to state.

Also consider that most insurance companies will provide discounts for completing a boating safety course. These discounts off of your premium for PWC (personal water craft) and boating insurance policies can be as much as 10% to 25% annually.

There is no legitimate reason to ignore boating safety. All 50 states in US provide boating safety education programs that are convenient and accessible to the boating public. Many of these courses are available online. So no excuse. Sign up for a boating safety education course and bring yourself up to speed with the most current regulations, tips and information.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 27th, 2007 at 12:01 pm and is filed under United Yacht, United Yacht Sales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.