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Recreational Boating Accidents – Good News and Bad

The good news is that the rate at which recreational boaters are involved in boat accidents is down significantly. The United States Coast Guard reports that over a fifteen-year period between 1997 and 2012, the number of boating accidents involving death from injuries dropped from 8,047 to 4,515 – a reduction of nearly 50%.

Those 4,515 boating accidents still represent 651 fatalities (twenty-four of which are children) and 3,000 injuries – not to mention $38 million in property damages. More tragically, the vast majority of the deaths were preventable. More than 70% of boating accident fatalities were due to drowning, and most of those victims were not wearing life preservers mandated under state and federal regulations. Fully 80% of these mishaps involved motorboats and jet skis – and alcohol was listed as a “leading contributing factor.” Other contributing factors include:

  • Operator failure to pay attention to conditions
  • Inadequate training and experience
  • Excessive rate of speed
  • Mechanical failure


On the other hand, boating accidents were far less common among operators who had successfully completed safety training through the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators.

In most boating accidents, federal maritime law applies (the exception being incidents taking place on rivers or lakes that are entirely within the boundaries of a given state). You can learn more about maritime law and how it is applicable to injury and death cases at Levin Papantonio’s Maritime Web Page.

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