boating safety

In a year where overall recreational boating fatalities decreased from 710 in 2006 to 685 in 2007, the number of fatalities associated with the use of canoes/kayaks increased to 107 in 2007 as compared with 99 in 2006. This is according to statistics from the U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety.

This figure represents 15.6 percent of all recreational boating fatalities in the U.S. in 2007. Of the 107 fatalities associated with kayaking/canoeing, 97 were from drowning (66 canoe, 31 kayak).

A recent study by the Outdoor Industry Foundation has shown a dramatic increase in the number of Americans participating in kayaking, a 23 percent increase in 2005 alone. As the number of people turning to kayaking and canoeing increases, so does the potential risk of kayak and canoe operators getting into trouble.