Boating Safety Has Improved Nationally Says Water Sports Foundation, Resulting in Fewer Incidents and Fatalities

(Photo Credit: The Water Sports Foundation):  The Water Sports Foundation (WSF) indicated boating safety improved nationally in 2021 with fewer fatalities, injuries and incidents. The WSF believes increased enrollment in boater safety courses may have played a part. For boating safety tips and lists of boating safety courses, please visit https://www.watersportsfoundation.com/media/boating-safety-education/.

U.S. Coast Guard reports boating safety figure improvements in 2021 despite historic growth in new boat ownership. WSF credits increased safety course enrollment.  

ORLANDO, Fla., August 16, 2022 – The U.S. Coast Guard’s latest 2021 Recreational Boating Statistics Report revealed boating safety improved with a 15.4% drop in the fatality rate per 100,000 registered vessels since 2020 while incidents decreased by 15.7% to 4,439; total fatalities decreased by 14.2% to 658; and total injuries decreased by 17.2% to 2,641.

Perhaps of greatest interest, these improved metrics emerged as boating sales and boating participation figures reached historic high-water marks among first-time boat owners including the 830,000 who purchased during the 2020 and 2021 pandemic.

Photo Credit:  Takemefishing.org

“At the beginning of the pandemic sales were increasing, but in-person safety courses had to be discontinued for obvious reasons,” Emmons said. “However, most every boating safety course provider pivoted quickly and began offering their courses online utilizing virtual education technology. Many of the course providers shared with me directly that after they offered their courses online, they saw an attendance spike in their enrollments.”

Emmons points out that the U.S. Coast Guard data shows the overwhelming majority of fatalities occurred on boats where the operator had not received boating safety instruction. Where boating safety instruction was known, 75% of fatalities occurred on boats in which the operator did not receive boating safety instruction. Only 16% of fatalities occurred on vessels where the operator had received a nationally approved boating safety education certificate.

“The importance of boating safety and education is clearly validated by this year’s report,” said Emmons. “It has a real impact when it comes to reducing incidents and fatalities.” 

A few more key insights: 81% of fatal boating incident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims with reported life jacket usage, 83% were not wearing a life jacket. In addition, the report identified alcohol as the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating incidents and the leading factor in 16% of deaths.  

“Boating is one of the safest forms of recreation out there, but the data reconfirms to me that deaths associated with not wearing a life jacket and alcohol are among the most preventable,” said Paul Barnard, Recreational Boating Safety Program Specialist, U.S. Coast Guard Eighth District. “It gives us a great sense of urgency to educate boaters and give them the knowledge and skills they need to stay safe.”

Operator inattention, operator inexperience, improper lookout, machinery failure, and excessive speed ranked as the top five primary contributing factors in all incidents. Where data was known, the vessel types with the highest percentage of deaths were open motorboats (44%), kayaks (15%), and pontoons (15%).

About the Water Sports Foundation

Headquartered in Orlando, Fla., the Water Sports Foundation (WSF) is the non-profit educational arm of the Water Sports Industry Association (WSIA.net).  The WSF National Public Relations Outreach including this press release is produced under a grant from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, administered by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Related Content

American Whitewater Toolbox

An Open Source Signage Toolbox from American Whitewater

American Whitewater is proud to announce the release of our new turn-key toolbox for developing river signs! We’re all about open-source, river information sharing and this is the motivation and rationale behind our Open-source Signage Toolbox. The first of its kind in the river community, the Toolbox houses a database of templates for safety messaging […]

Read More

Recreational Boating Statistics 2021

An annual compilation of recreational boating statistics in the United States, compiled by the U.S. Coast Guard using data supplied by the U.S. states and territories. Recreational Boating Statistics 2020 was released on June 30, 2021. New reports are published in early summer using certified data from the previous year.

Read More
Emergency Boarding Ladder

3 Boating Safety Tips Just Right for Fall Boating

Annapolis, Md., Sept. 07, 2022 – Fall boating season has arrived, and with it come different types of risks that cold water and air temperatures bring. Here are three boating safety tips from the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water just right for leaf peeping season. A float plan is needed: A float […]

Read More