What Causes Boating Accidents?

Next week is National Safe Boating Week, a week we'll spend emphasizing how to boat safely and the importance of doing so. So we know we're a little ahead of the curve writing about it now, but we figured we'd go ahead and set up the week by writing about boating accidents. Not a fun topic, but one that must be understood in order to realize the importance of boating safety measures.

First: how do boating accidents happen?

As you can see, the top 5 types of boating accidents (in 2011) are: collission with a recreational vessel, flooding/swamping, collision with a fixed object, skier mishap and people overboard. Not that surprising, overall. But then take a look at the next list, the top 10 contributing factors to these boating accidents. #1 is operator inattention, something so easily fixable it's scary. When you're operating a boat, make like you are operating a vehicle on the road. There's really hardly any difference, besides the fact that there are no specific lanes to the water (though, of course, there are right of way rules!). Boat operators should never ever casually operate a boat - always pay full attention to your speed, surroundings and other factors. 

In fact, if boaters were to treat boating the same as driving, many of these other contributing factors might not be an issue, like excessive speed, alcohol use and rules of the road/water.

Operator inexperience, though listed as a separate contributor, is actually a factor in many of those listed here. More experienced operators have a better understanding of weather, force of wakes, rules of the road and more. So if you are new boater, not to fear - practice makes perfect, but a boating safety class will put you above many of your fellow boaters. 

Stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages all next week to learn other boating safety tips (boating classes is just the tip of the iceberg!).