Journal of Accident Investigation

NATIONAL
NATIONALTRANSPORTATION TRANSPORTATION
E PLURIBUS UNUM
SAFETY
SAFETY BOARD
BOARD
PUBLIC FORUM
Personal Flotation Devices
in Recreational Boating
August 25, 2004
NTSB Academy, Ashburn, VA
Public Forums, Symposiums, and Hearings
Personal Flotation Devices in Recreational Boating
Bruce G. Coury, National Transportation Safety Board
Will It Float? was the title of Canadian Safe Boating Council’s presentation at the NTSB’s
public forum Personal Flotation Devices (PFD) in Recreational Boating. Those three words
describe the discussions about PFD policy that occurred among more than 80 participants
from government and the recreational boating industry who gathered at the NTSB Academy
in August 2004. The forum covered a range of topics including adult and child PFD use,
accident and injury risk factors, boating education, and operator licensing, with much of
the discussion focusing on the merits of a mandatory PFD wear requirement for adults in
recreational boats.
Participation in recreational boating increased from 78.3 million in 1999 to 91.1 million in
2004, according to the National Survey of Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) cited by the
U.S. Coast Guard and the boating industry. At the same time, the total number of accidents
decreased by 30 percent, and the number of accidents per million participants declined more
than 40 percent.
Despite the decreasing accident rate, forum participants agreed that the number of people
who drown every year in recreational boating was unacceptable, and that PFD use by adult
boaters remains too low. Conclusions were based on Coast Guard recreational boating
accident statistics that showed a persistent and constant number of drownings from year
to year. From 1999 to 2003, for example, almost 7 of 10 fatalities were due to drowning,
averaging approximately 00 deaths per year. The most common factor among drowning
victims was the lack of a PFD. The Coast Guard estimates that 84 percent of the people who
drowned would have been saved had they been wearing PFDs.
The forum enabled the Safety Board and the recreational boating community to explore
actions that might be taken to reduce the number of drownings. The 1 presentations were
organized into the 4 panels shown in table 1. The first panel set the stage by presenting
accident data, current state of approved PFD technology, studies of PFD use among adults
and children, and an analysis of acceptability and feasibility of mandatory PFD legislation
done in Canada. Subsequent presentations provided public safety, recreational boater, and
industry perspectives on PFD use and requirements. Many presenters felt that a mandatory
NTSB JOURNAL OF ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION, SPRING 2006; VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 67