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Article:
Boating Safety - It's For Everyone by: James 'Doc' Lewis Boating, when a few simple rules are followed, is one of the safest family activities there is. U.S. statistics show boating is twice as safe as biking, five times as safe as driving a car, and 24 times as safe as scuba diving. By practicing safe boating, you will provide a wonderful pastime for yourselves and give your children a love of the water that will last them a lifetime. So What Goes Wrong? Having made such a sweeping endorsement of the relative safety of boating, how do we explain the glaring headlines which we find in the press on an all to regular basis? Fortunately, for you and me, there are numerous public agencies which spend a lot of time and money doing the research and compiling data. After researching their findings it becomes obvious that a little preparation and planning can all but eliminate therisks. Some Pertinent Facts: The most common accident to passengers and crew is falling overboard. According to the statistics over 40% of all fatal boating accidents start this way. It can be avoided if boaters make sure they have good footing and a good hand-hold at all times. An, age-old, seafaring reminder, which I first heard in the Coast Guard, goes like this. 'One hand for the ship, one hand for the sailor.' Children should never be allowed to move about on an underway boat. If you need to move around on the boat, for any reason, reduce speed and make sure to get and keep a grip with at least one hand. Alcohol and water don't mix. In a Red Cross study, two-thirds of boating injury victims had consumed alcohol. Almost 40% had an alcohol level above the legal limit. Besides being illegal, it's dangerous to operate any kind of machinery while drinking. A boat is no exception. 35% of boating accidents were directly attributable to alcohol use and the overwhelming primary cause of fatalities was alcohol-related. If you drink and boat, you are more likely to be involved in an accident, and once involved, more likely to die. 53% of fatal boating accident victims drowned, while 39% suffered trauma and 9% died of other causes. What About All Those Drownings? A recent Red Cross study noted 92% of boating-related drowning victims were either not wearing a PFD or life jacket or were wearing one incorrectly. The US Coast Guard is even more to the point, stating that of the 519 boaters who drowned in the year '2000
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