Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
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Table 2-43: Recreational Boating Safety, Alcohol Involvement, and Property Damage Data

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  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Fatalities 739 1,360 1,418 1,466 1,360 1,116 865 924 816 800 784 829 709 821 815 734 (c) 701 681 750 703 676 697 710
Injuries 929 927 780 2,136 2,650 2,757 3,822 3,967 3,683 3,559 4,084 4,141 4,442 4,555 4,612 4,315 4,355 4,274 4,062 3,888 3,363 3,451 3,474
Accidents 2,738 3,752 3,803 6,308 5,513 6,237 6,411 6,573 6,048 6,335 6,906 8,019 8,026 8,047 8,061 7,931 7,740 6,419 5,705 5,438 4,904 4,969 4,967
Vessels involved (a) 3,562 (a) 4,778 4,762 8,002 6,954 8,305 8,591 8,821 8,206 8,688 9,722 11,534 11,306 11,396 11,368 11,190 10,984 8,974 7,907 7,363 6,725 6,628 6,753
Numbered boats (thousands) (E) 2,500 4,138 5,128 7,303 8,577 9,589 10,996 11,068 11,132 11,283 11,430 11,735 11,878 12,313 12,566 12,738 12,782 12,876 12,854 12,795 12,781 12,942 12,746
Rates per 100,000 numbered boats                                              
Fatalities 32.8 32.9 27.7 20.1 15.9 11.6 7.9 8.3 7.3 7.1 6.9 7.1 6.0 6.7 6.5 5.8 5.5 5.3 5.8 5.5 5.3 (R) 5.4 5.6
Injuries 37.1 22.4 15.2 29.2 30.9 28.8 34.8 35.8 33.1 31.5 35.7 35.3 37.4 37.0 36.7 33.9 34.1 33.2 31.6 30.4 26.3 26.7 27.3
Accidents 109.5 90.7 74.2 86.4 64.3 65.0 58.3 59.4 54.3 56.2 60.4 68.3 67.6 65.4 64.2 62.3 60.6 49.9 44.4 42.5 38.4 38.4 39.0
Accident reports citing alcohol involvementd N N N N N 279 568 513 504 381 389 472 601 698 704 633 696 (R) 375d (R) 357 (R) 362 (R) 331 (R) 402 403.0
Property damage (current $ millions) 3.2 4.7 8.2 10.4 16.4 20.0 23.8 24.8 (b) 34.8 20.2 (a) 25.9 (a) 21.5 23.2 29.0 31.0 28.9 34.7 31.3 39.2 40.4 35.0 38.7 43.7

KEY: E = estimate; N = data do not exist; R = revised

a U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard (CG), Office of Boating Safety, personal communication, May 15, 2002.

b Includes $11 million damage due to a boat fire.

c The numbers for recreational boating safety fatalities are raw numbers--CG reports a 6% addition as instructed by the DOT Inspector General because it found a discrepancy in a review of the Search and Rescue Management Information System (SARMIS) and BARD data. (See the discussion found in the DOT FY2003 Performance Plan/Report on pg. 135 under data details of recreational boating fatalities).

d Starting in 2001 only cases where alcohol is determined to be a direct or inderect cause of an accident are reported. Previous years include cases where alcohol was present but played no role in the accident.

NOTE

Only a small fraction of property damages and nonfatal accidents are reported to the U.S. Coast Guard.

SOURCE

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (formerly U.S. Department of Transportation), U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Boating Safety, Boating Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), Internet site http://www.uscgboating.org/statistics/accident_stats.htm as of Mar. 31, 2008.