<TABLE cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=5 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="50%">Recreational boating fatalities in the States, five U. S. Territories, and the District of Columbia dropped to a record low of 676 in 2004,, and then rose slightly in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, there were 685 boating fatalities reported by the CG Recreational Boating Accident Report Database (BARD), and in 2008, that figure rose to 709. The highest number of recorded boating fatalities was an incredible 1,750 in 1973, with 90% of those fatalities caused by drowning. Reported injuries, however, rose from 3,474 in 2006 to 3,686 in 2007, and reported accidents rose from 4,967 in 2006 to 5,223 in 2007, and then dropped to 4,789 in 2008. And although 2006 set a record for property damage at $43,670,424, 2007 topped that again with property damage reported to be a whopping $53,288,858 with $54 million again in 2008, Many boating accidents were the result of alcohol use, and most of all boating fatalities could have been prevented by wearing personal flotation devices. Personal watercraft deaths were down from 79 in 1995 to 54 in 1996, but then rose to an all time high of 84 in 1997. In 2006, there were 68 PWC fatalities, three more than in the previous year.
[*]Over two-thirds of all fatal boating accident victims drowned, and of those, ninety (90) percent were not wearing a life jacket.
[*]Only ten percent of deaths occurred on boats where the operator had received boating safety instruction.
[*]Seven out of every ten boaters who drowned were using boats less than 21 feet in length.
[*]Careless/reckless operation, operator inattention, no proper lookout, operator inexperience and passenger/skier behavior rank as the top five primary contributing factors in accidents.
[*]Alcohol use is the leading contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; it was listed as the leading factor in 17% of the deaths.
[*]Eleven children under age thirteen lost their lives while boating in 2008. 63% of the children who died in 2008 died from drowning.
[*]The most common types of vessels involved in reported accidents were open motorboats (43%), personal watercraft (23%), and cabin motorboats (15%).
[*]The 12,692,892 boats registered by the states in 2008 represent a 1.4% decrease from last year when 12,875,568 boats were registered.
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