ALEA’s Marine Patrol Division launches national boating safety week

It’s simple: Wearing a life jacket is the easiest life-saving strategy for safe boating, according to officials.

To ensure the message is spread, the Marine Patrol Division of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) teamed up with boating safety advocates across the nation and Canada on Saturday, May 16 to kick off an awareness week and promote safe and responsible boating, including consistent life-jacket wear each time boaters are on the water.

In addition, National Safe Boating Week kicks off the 2015 North American Safe Boating Campaign, a yearlong campaign titled “Wear It!” to promote responsible boating and the value of voluntary life jacket wear by recreational boaters.

“While it may start off as a perfect day for boating, conditions could change quickly and become hazardous, especially if you end up in the water. Ensure an enjoyable time by choosing to always be a responsible boater and insist everyone on the boat wear a life jacket,” said Col. John E. Richardson, director of ALEA’s Alabama Department of Public Safety, which comprises Marine Patrol and Highway Patrol Divisions.

U.S. Coast Guard statistics show that drowning was the reported cause of death in three-fourths of recreational boating fatalities in 2013, and 84 percent of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets.

According to the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, hundreds of people lose their lives each year in boating incidents, and they might still be alive had they chosen to wear life jackets.Today’s options are much more comfortable, lightweight and stylish – not the bulky orange ones of the past.  There are such innovative options as inflatable life jackets, allowing mobility and flexibility for boating, fishing, paddling, hunting and other activities on or around water.

Throughout the campaign, Troopers also will remind boaters of the dangers of operating boats while under the influence of alcohol and drugs, knowing navigational rules and having a proper lookout.

Here are a few Recreational Boating Safety Facts:

•           Drowning was reported as the cause of death in three-fourths of all fatalities.

•           Approximately 84 percent of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets.

•           In 2013, the Coast Guard counted 4,062 accidents that involved 560 deaths, 2,620 injuries and approximately $39 million dollars of damage to property as a result of recreational boating accidents.

•           The fatality rate was 4.7 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. This is a 13 percent decrease from 2012 fatality rate of 5.4 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels.

•           About 13 percent of deaths occurred on boats where the operator had received boating safety instruction.

•           Operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperience, excessive speed and machinery failure rank as the top 5 primary contributing factors in accidents.

•           Alcohol use ranks as a contributing factor in 16% of the deaths.

•           Twenty-two people young than 13 lost their lives while boating in 2013. Eight children, or approximately 36 percent of the children who died in 2013 died from drowning. (Five children or 62.5 percent of those who drowned were not wearing a life jacket as required by state and federal law.)

•           The most common types of vessels involved in reported accidents were open motorboats (46 percent), personal watercraft (18 percent) and cabin motorboats (17 percent).