Florida may have experienced a
three percent decrease in the number of boating accidents in 2016. But, compared
to 2015, there was a 22 percent increase in fatalities. Captain Tom Shipp is
with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Boating and
Waterways Section. He says many of these boating accidents are preventable.
“Looking at statistics, over half of our
fatalities each year are from people that drown where they fell overboard or
their vessel may have sunk out from underneath them, but it wasn’t that they
died from trauma related to an accident,” said Shipp. “They just ended up in
the water unprepared. And, so a big part of National Safe Boating Week is the
encouragement to wear your life jacket at all times when you’re on the water.”
Shipp says Florida boaters can also avoid a
lot of accidents by just staying alert.
“When you look at just the reportable
accidents alone, a large number of them are due to either operator inattention
or not keeping a proper lookout,” he added. “That’s why we have a campaign to
stand 360 degrees, while you’re on a boat—whether you’re the operator or the
occupant, you may see something coming or about to happen that the operator may
not see.”
Of the more than 700 boating accidents
reported last year, 67 resulted in fatalities. 70 percent of boating operators
in the fatal accidents also had no formal boater education. So, Shipp says
taking a safety class can really help. Source:
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