CHICAGO -- Boating fatalities continue to decline thanks to volunteer group and boating industry efforts to promote on-water safety. 1996 figures (the most up-to-date numbers available) released by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) in March show 709 boating fatalities that year, down nearly 15 percent from 1995 figures, when 829 people died. Moreover, boating's safety record shows dramatic improvement since 1987, when 1,036 fatalities were recorded.

While fatalities were down, USCG reported accidents were up to 8,026 in 1996, the most ever reported. Also at a record high were the number of injuries: 4,442. According to USCG's Boating Statistics 1996, "The record low number of fatalities is mainly due to the significant decrease in the number of drowning victims who were not wearing lifejackets. This is an encouraging trend and may have resulted from continued emphasis in the national safety campaign to wear lifejackets," a USCG spokesperson said.

The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) is a member of the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC), which includes 190 U.S. and Canadian organizations interested in boating safety and education. NSBC develops and facilitates an ongoing series of campaigns to promote safe boating principles and practices, distribute information on safe boating and promote research initiatives to support boating education and safety awareness. NMMA concentrates its "Boating Lifesavers (see attachment), messages on three keys to boating safety:
1) Designate a driver who will remain sober
2) Ensure that all aboard are wearing lifejackets
3) Check safe carrying capacity

The NMMA-affiliated Personal Flotation Device Manufactures Association (PFDMA) also distributes a free brochure, "lifejacket Facts."

Drowning is the leading cause of fatalities involving recreational boating. A lifejacket provides flotation to keep a person's head above water, helps the individual stay face up in the water and increases chances for survival and rescue. The USCG says 500 boaters drowned in 1996, 128 fewer than in 1995. The Coast Guard estimates that 440 of those who drowned might have been saved, had they been wearing lifejackets. In 1996, eight out of every 10 victims in fatal boating accidents were not wearing lifejackets.

The theme of this year's National Safe Boating Campaign (May 16-122) is "Boat Smart from the Start: Wear Your lifejacket." During the week, members of the NSBC, Coast Guard Auxiliary, U.S. Power Squadrons, State Boating Law Administrators, Army Corps. of Engineers, American Red Cross and other groups provide extensive media coverage, local exhibits and special programs on safe boating. The campaign supports grassroots activities of many voluntary groups with media kits and other information. Developed under NSBC leadership, the campaign is produced under a grant from the Aquatic Resources (Wallop-Breaux) Trust Fund and administered by the USCG.

Approximately 80 percent of all reported accidents involve operator controllable factors: operator inattention, operator inexperience, operating at unsafe speed and no proper lookout. When there were enough data available to provide the level of impairment, alcohol involvement in reported accidents accounted for 27 percent of all boating fatalities, up seven percent from 1995. A recent Coast Guard study estimates that boat operators with a blood alcohol concentration above .10 percent are more than 10 times as likely to be killed in a boating accident than boat operators with zero blood alcohol concentration. Eighty-five percent of all boating fatalities occurred on boats in which the operator had not completed a boating safety education course.