The American Boating Association* (ABA) has compiled the following information and provides it on the ABA website (www.americanboating.org):

• Approximately 7,700 boating accidents are reported annually.
• The U.S. Coast Guard has found that nearly 70% of accidents are caused by operator error as opposed to boat or environmental factors.
• It is estimated that less than 10% of minor boating accidents are reported, despite federal law mandating each be reported to the authorities in the state where the incident occurred.
• According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), boating fatalities are second only to highway fatalities.
• More than 80% of recreational boat operators involved in fatal boating accidents have not taken any type of boater education course.
• Personal watercraft injuries account for 36% of all reported boating injuries.
• In the last decade the NTSB placed boating safety on its "10 Most Wanted List" for safety improvements. It made several recommendations to reduce boating accident incidents, such as required minimum standards for operator knowledge of safety boating rules and skills, and requiring personal water craft rental businesses to provide safety instruction training to customers.

Boating While Intoxicated (BWI)

• In the most recent year with complete data, 701 lives were lost as a result of recreational boating accidents in the U.S. and its territories. BWI was identified as part of the problem in 31% of those fatalities.
• Operators with a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent (for most of us that means just one to three beers) are 10 times as likely to be killed in a boating accident as a sober boater.
• Additional contributing factors to BWI deaths include excessive speed, improper operation, poor vision, faulty equipment, inadequate safety systems and devices, limited or inaccurate local knowledge, and ignorance of basic waterways rules.

2004 North American Safe Boating Campaign

• This program is sponsored by a grant from the Wallop/Breaux Trust Fund administered by the US Coast Guard.
• Drowning continues to be the #1 cause of deaths in boating accidents.
• In 2002, 80% of drowning victims were not wearing life jackets.
• Over 75% of boating fatalities that occurred in 2002 were the result of capsizing or passengers falling overboard.
• Nearly 90% of fatalities occurred on boats where the operator had not taken a boater education course.
• Open boats have the highest overall number of fatalities nationally (nearly 50%).

What's Happening in Massachusetts?

• At the start of each boating season, the Massachusetts Environmental Police encourage people to Boat Smart From the Start by: "(1) wearing a life jacket, (2) taking a boating safety course, (3) riding in safe boats, and (4) boating sober."
• Since 1990, Massachusetts law requires children under age 12 to wear an approved life jacket when underway (all personal water craft riders and water-skiers must do so as well).
• Since 1995, Massachusetts has enforced drunk-operator boating laws that can impact an offender's automobile driver's license.
• Since 1995, 20% of fatalities have been deemed to be alcohol-related, a decrease of 30%.
• During the last ten years in Massachusetts, 95 people have died as a result of recreational boating accidents and 78 of these victims did not wear a life jacket.
• In 1/3rd of these cases, life jackets were not available to the victims onboard.
• The Massachusetts State Police website posts a current schedule of boater safety courses (www.state.ma.us/dfwele/dle/dlecours.htm).

Have Boater Education Programs Been Successful?

According to Grant Westerson, the Executive Director of the Connecticut Marine Trades Association, Connecticut has one of the most successful boater education laws in the country:

• 10 year phase in program of the mandatory boater education law (currently 5 years into the program);
• New boat owners with proofs of boat purchases have a 6 month window to take an 8- hour class or pass a proctored exam given by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection;
• Upon completion of the course or passage of the exam, boat operators receive a diploma and pay a $25 fee for a safe boater lifetime certificate;
• At the time of its implementation, the law was retroactive for five years (those who became boat owners within the previous five years were subject to the law) but contained a "grandfather window" open for a few years to allow more long-term boat owners' to apply for an exemption.
• The law has reciprocity in that it is NASBLA-approved, thus a boater safety certificate from Connecticut is accepted in other states.

*Much of the above information has been provided by the American Boating Association through its website and communications representative (www.americanboating.org).