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posted to uk.rec.sailing,rec.boats.cruising
Stefan
 
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Default Boat Safety - and thread arguments

In article , says...

There are about 180 million cars in the US, and 12 million registered
boats, so the ratio is 15 to one. The number of boating fatalities is
around 700, but this doesn't include drowning while swimming off a
boat which is a substantial factor, so I will exercise some
prerogative and call it an even 1000 deaths. There are 30000 auto
related deaths, so that ratio is 30 to one.


Both those accident rates are higher than the UK, whose population is
around 25% of the USA. Boating deaths appear vastly higher in the USA. I
wonder why?

UK road deaths around 3200 in 2005 with 30M registered cars.

Boat-related deaths:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/group.../page/dft_foi_
610522.pdf shows numbers reported to the Marine Accident Investigation
Board. Incidents involving deaths, maybe half a dozen a year.

http://www.rospa.com/waterandleisure...atersafety.htm
lists 22 boating drownings in the UK in 2004.

There is no legal requirement to register small craft in the UK so
nobody knows how many there are. Also certainly several million.