National Safe Boating Week Tip #6 - Wear Your Life Jacket

Wearing a life jacket is the single most important thing you can do to improve your safety on board a boat. According to the U.S. Coast Guard’s most recent Recreational Boating Statistics report, 79% of fatal boating accident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims, 86% were not wearing a life jacket. In other words, 8 out of 10 lives would have been saved had the people been wearing life jackets.

The Sea Tow Foundation and U.S. Coast Guard recommend that boaters wear life jackets at all times because you can never predict when you’ll need them. You can’t put on a seatbelt in a car while you are in the middle of a car accident, and you won’t be able to put on a life jacket in the middle of an on-water emergency either. Wearing it is the best option.

Modern life jackets are designed to be comfortable to wear and some kid’s models are colorful and feature fun themes, which help make children want to wear them. The two most important pieces to check is that 1) the life jackets are U.S. Coast Guard approved and 2) the life jackets are the proper size for the person wearing them. A child can’t wear an adult-size life jacket because they will slip out of it in the water and an adult would never float if they were hanging onto a child-size life jacket.

Inflatable life jackets are also an option for those at least 16 years of age. They can be worn on the waist or like a pair of suspenders so that they are out of the way until they are needed, but they must be worn to be approved. Also, if you plan to go white water kayaking, wake boarding, riding a PWC, or participating in any other activity with high impact, an inflatable life jacket is not an option.

If you don’t have enough life jackets for everyone on board or don’t want to purchase a life jacket for a one-time boat visitor, don’t worry. The Sea Tow Foundation has established over 750 life jacket loaner stations throughout the United States where boaters can easily borrow and return life jackets in all sizes to ensure that they have the right size for everyone on board. You can find a life jacket loaner station near you at www.boatingsafety.com/map.