According to the United States Coast Guard and the National Safe Boating Council, the upcoming Fourth of July Holiday will be the highest boating traffic time of the summer. All over Indiana and Illinois, recreational boats will take to the waters of our various waterways, like Lake Patoka; Big Tippy and Little Tippy, and Lake James in Indiana and Lake Carlyle; Rend Lake and Lake Shelbyville in Illinois.
However, with all these boats on the water over a holiday weekend, the danger of a serious or deadly boating accident increases exponentially.
From Yvonne Pentz of the National Safe Boating Council:
“The July 4th holiday is a great time to celebrate our freedom with family and friends. If you are fishing, boating or just enjoying the day on the water, it’s important to boat responsibly.”
Risk of Dying in a Boating Accident
From statistics compiled by the United States Coast Guard (2017 Recreational Boating Statistics, COMDT PUB 16754.31), we know the following:
- The fatality rate for recreational boating accidents is 5.5 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels.
- Most boating accident deaths involve drowning (76%).
- The great majority of those who die by drowning in a fatal boating accident were not wearing a life jacket (84.5%).
- Smaller vessels are more likely to be involved in a fatal boating accident; 8 out of 10 drowning victims were using vessels less than 21 feet in length.
- Drinking alcohol is the “leading known contributing factor,” it is tallied as the primary cause in 19% of fatal boating accidents.
- Most deadly boating accidents have an operator without education on safety and boating safety instructions (81%) of boating fatalities.
- The most common vessels involved in a fatal boating accident were: open motorboats (47%), kayaks (15%), and personal watercraft (7%).
Common Causes of Fatal Boating Accidents
While all sorts of mistakes or errors can cause a deadly accident on the water, safety advocates warn that there are three common causes for most deadly boating injuries:
- Failing to Wear a Life Jacket
Life jackets are life savers. There are two key factors here: wearing the life jacket, and making sure that the jacket is in good condition and fits appropriately. A child should not be wearing an adult life jacket.
- Deciding Not To Bother Wearing an Engine Cut-Off Device
If the operator of a boat falls overboard for whatever reason, a gizmo called an “engine cut-off device” will stop the boat’s engine. This protects the operator as well as his or her passengers in many ways, not the least of which is being struck by a propeller by the running boat engine.
- Intoxicated Boating: Boating Drunk or Drugged
Boating under the influence (BUI) is a crime in both Indiana and Illinois. However, many consider driving a boat under the influence as less risky than operating a car or truck. This assumption is wrong. Anyone operating a vessel who has become intoxicated by alcoholic beverages (or by drugs) will have the same challenges as the driver of a motor vehicle.
Intoxicated boat operators suffer the same limitations as the drunk or drugged driver: they will have impaired judgment and poor coordination, etc. Their inability to operate the boat properly is the cause of many fatal boating accidents.
Other common causes of fatal boating accidents as reported by the United States Coast Guard are:
- Operator inattention or inexperience
A preoccupied boat operator or someone new to boating is more likely to cause an accident where someone perishes.
- Speeding
Boats are not to be driven at excessive speeds. The risk of capsizing, tossing a passenger overboard, and having a crash rises as the boat is driven at faster speeds.
- Hazardous Water or Weather Conditions
Those operating boats on navigable waters must understand the realities of nature. Storms and sudden downpours can create risks for boats out on the water. Some bodies of water come with their own inherent dangers. Anyone choosing to boat in any lake here in our part of the country needs to investigate its particular characteristics.
Boating Laws Define Safe Boating in Indiana and Illinois
There are laws on the books of both Indiana and Illinois that apply both to the operator of any recreational boat as well as the boat’s passengers. They are specific as to the duty of care placed upon anyone choosing to operate a vessel and the level of care entrusted to the boat operator.
For instance, in Indiana there are legally defined duties in IC 14-15-3-3 to “operate the boat in a careful and prudent manner, having due regard for the following:
(1) The rights, safety, and property of other persons.
(2) The conditions and hazards, actual and potential, then existing, including weather and density of traffic.
(3) Possible injury to the person or property of other persons.”
Furthermore, if there is a boating accident, Indiana law defines the legal duties of the boating operator in IC 14-15-4-1. The boating operator has a legal duty to do the following:
- Stop the boat immediately and as close as possible to the scene of the accident.
- Return to the scene of the accident and remain there until the operator has complied with this section.
- Give the following information to the operator of each other boat and each person injured: the operator’s name and address; a full identification of the boat operated; the name and address of the owner; and upon request, exhibit the operator’s license to the operator of each other boat and each person injured.
- Provide reasonable assistance to each person injured, including carrying or arranging for carrying each injured person to a physician, surgeon, or hospital for medical or surgical treatment if: it is apparent that treatment is necessary; or the injured person so requests.
In our next post, we will discuss the various people (and legal entities) that may hold legal liability when someone is the victim of a serious or fatal boating accident. Let’s be careful out there!
