2008 Coast Guard Statistics

[Skipper of the Sea Que]

Originally Posted by elchase

To those citing the Coast Guard data, I hate to burst your bubble, but the fatalities are categorized by the speed of the boat the victim was in...usually the slower-moving smaller boat, such as the kayaker who got run over by a speeding performance boat. Since the kayaker was standing still, that fatality is listed as "0-10 MPH". The speed of the speedboat is not recorded unless one of its passengers was killed too. This might seem obvious, given that it is hard for someone standing still to cause a deadly collision, so seeing all those deaths at 0-10MPH should have clued. ...

Clue: not all accidents, injuries or fatalities are the result of collisions and not all accidents resulted in reportable injuries or fatalities.

Ever been in a sailboat at the dock when the sail fills with wind and the boom swings over the boat clobbering anyone in the path? Just one example. There are many more accidents involving boats not moving or traveling less than 10 mph that have no involvement with speeding boats. Ever been in a rowboat when the oar slips out of the oarlock and smashes a passenger? Tip over in a canoe or kayak? Get a foot caught in an anchor line as it is deployed... and etc..

I'm sure you hate bursting bubbles . Let's look at the other data from the USCG statistics.

How about the other category, VESSELS INVOLVED.
Let's look at the number of ALL recreational boats Involved in accidents. Remember this is for all bodies of water, lakes, oceans, rivers and etc.

917 boats NOT MOVING were involved in accidents.

1522 boats traveling under 10 mph were INVOLVED in accidents.

1064 boats traveling between 10 and 20 mph were involved in accidents.

970 incidents involved boats going between 21 and 30 mph.

Only 176 boats going over 40 mph were involved in accidents (I'll bet some of those were under the Speed Limit of 45 mph).

1698 boats with unknown speeds were involved in accidents.

6347 TOTAL boats involved in accidents in all known and unknown speed categories.

So, removing the fatality and injury reporting provisions these statistics indicate that speed is NOT involved with the vast majority of boating accidents.

Q.E.D.

See the chart again, if you wish, HERE.