OCR Text |
Show Boating fatalities down The Coast Guard recently announced that for the fifth straight year, fewer people lost their lives in recreational boating accidents in 1990 than in the previous year. The fatality count has fallen 36 percent in the last 10 years and has set record lows in each of the past four years. The 865 fatalities recorded in 1990 broke the record low of 896 set in 1989- This decline is attributed to an increase in public awareness of the dangers of operating boats while under the influence of alcohol, and the cooperative safety programs made available through the Coast Guard, states and volunteer safety organizations. The Coast Guard warns, however, that boaters should not become complacent com-placent since the number of reported accidents, injuries and boats involved in accidents last year increased, even though the value of reported property damage decreased. The totals of 1990 are: 865 fatalities, 3,822 injuries and 8,591 boats involved in-volved in 6,411 accidents with damage totaling $23 8 million. The Coast Guard believes that while it is notified of nearly all fatal accidents, only a small fraction of the non-fatal accidents are reported. The fatality rate of 4.4 per KXUMX) estimated boats broke the record low of 4.7 set last year. The Coast Guard estimates that there are 19.5 million recreational boats in the U.S. The estimates of boats and fatality rates made by the Coast Guard include information obtained from a recent American Red Cross National Boating Survey, which was conducted under a Coast Guard boating safety grant. |