Boating Industry Intelligence You Can Profit From
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In the wake of a recent tragedy in Northern California, where three people died as a result of not wearing lifejackets, and in preparation for the upcoming boating season, the Coast Guard Auxiliary wants to remind the boating public and other who live, work or play around the water that “friends don’t let friends go without a lifejacket,” the organization said in a statement Saturday.
Whether people plan to go fishing, hunting, waterskiing, or just want to enjoy a day on or around the water, the single most import thing they can do to prevent a tragedy is to “Just Wear It.”
The statistics are fairly consistent each year: between 80 and 90 percent of those who die in a boating accident drown. An overwhelming number of these drowning victims were not wearing lifejackets. Most boating safety experts believe the majority of these deaths could have been prevented, if only the droning victim had simply been wearing a properly fitted life jacket.
While the law requires most children to “just wear it,” there are no rules for wearing life jackets for adults. In fact, the life jacket wear rate for adults is believed to be somewhere around 5 percent, far below the wear rate for seatbelts.
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