USCG report on 2018 US boating accidents

LaReaLaRea Member Posts: 7,504 ✭✭✭✭✭
The 2018 report is out.  If you've never read one of these reports, take a look.  Accident rates are down slightly from 2017, but the major conclusions are the same as ever:

* Most accidents happen on boats under 21' (because the vast majority of boats are that size)
* Most accidents involve operators who never took a boating safety course
* Most deaths are from drowning while not wearing a PFD
* A lot of accidents involve alcohol

So, to sum it up:  The most dangerous boat in the US is a small powerboat operated by a drunk with no boating education.  That lines up 100% with what I've seen in two decades on the water.

https://uscgboating.org/library/accident-statistics/Recreational-Boating-Statistics-2018.pdf

Comments

  • randy56randy56 Member Posts: 4,083 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm glad that you submersed it for us, that's a lengthily report. Now I can pass on reading it. 
    Boat Name : 

  • LaReaLaRea Member Posts: 7,504 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I thought about this a bit more.  At first glance, it seems obvious that small boats are more dangerous than larger boats:

      Total boating deaths
          Boats under 26':  509 
          Boats over 26':  53 

    But that's actually misleading.  More accidents happen on small boats there are 10.4 million of them, compared to only 575,000 larger boats.  I did the math:

      Total boating deaths **per 100,000 registered boats** 
          Boats under 26':  4.9 
          Boats over 26':  9.2

    That's the opposite of what I expected.  And I was even more surprised to see that the highest death rate is on vessels 40-65 feet long: 15.4 per 100k boats.   
  • Michael TMichael T Member Posts: 7,227 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Often hard to parse out meaning from data! As my statistics professor once said "There are lies, damned lies then there are statistics." :-)
  • LaReaLaRea Member Posts: 7,504 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2019
    77% of deaths were from drowning.  Around 1% (8 deaths out of 633) were from carbon monoxide poisoning.  
    Post edited by LaRea on
  • Handymans342Handymans342 Member Posts: 10,375 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I guess that big Korean cargo ship that just flipped over was operated by a drunk Korean who didnt have a captains license. LOL
  • LaReaLaRea Member Posts: 7,504 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Here's the executive summary:

    "In 2018, the Coast Guard counted 4,145 accidents that involved 633 deaths, 2,511 injuries and approximately $46 million dollars of damage to property as a result of recreational boating accidents.

     The fatality rate was 5.3 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. This rate represents a 3.6% decrease from the 2017 fatality rate of 5.5 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels.

     Compared to 2017, the number of accidents decreased 3.4%, the number of deaths decreased 3.8%, and the number of injuries decreased 4.5%.

     Where cause of death was known, 77% of fatal boating accident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims with reported life jacket usage, 84% were not wearing a life jacket.

     Where length was known, eight out of every ten boaters who drowned were using vessels less than 21 feet in length.

     Alcohol use is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; where the primary cause was known, it was listed as the leading factor in 19% of deaths.

     Where instruction was known, 74% of deaths occurred on boats where the operator did not receive boating safety instruction. Only 18% percent of deaths occurred on vessels where the operator had received a nationally-approved boating safety education certificate.

     There were 177 accidents in which at least one person was struck by a propeller. Collectively, these accidents resulted in 25 deaths and 177 injuries.

     Operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperience, machinery failure, and excessive speed rank as the top five primary contributing factors in accidents.

     Where data was known, the most common vessel types involved in reported accidents were open motorboats (46%), personal watercraft (19%), and cabin motorboats (15%).

     Where data was known, the vessel types with the highest percentage of deaths were open motorboats (50%), kayaks (13.5%), and canoes (7%).

     The 11,852,969 recreational vessels registered by the states in 2018 represent a 0.91% decrease from last year when 11,961,568 recreational vessels were registered."
  • LaReaLaRea Member Posts: 7,504 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The 2019 accident report is out.  Again, if you've never read one, you might find it interesting.  

    I don't see any big changes from last year.  As usual, the most dangerous boat in the US is a small powerboat operated by a drunk with no boating education.  

    https://www.uscgboating.org/library/accident-statistics/Recreational-Boating-Statistics-2019.pdf
  • Handymans342Handymans342 Member Posts: 10,375 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Total deaths by boat are more than total deaths by all rifles in the USA. Maybe we should ban boats now. LOL
  • LaReaLaRea Member Posts: 7,504 ✭✭✭✭✭
    There's already a ban on assault boats, and you can only buy one boat per month. 
  • Handymans342Handymans342 Member Posts: 10,375 ✭✭✭✭✭
    LaRea said:
    There's already a ban on assault boats, and you can only buy one boat per month. 
    Good one. Lol
  • Aqua_AuraAqua_Aura Member Posts: 2,531 ✭✭✭✭
    You just have to ban the high capacity boats 😆
    1997 Bayliner 3988
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