U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
Public Affairs

PRESS RELEASE

Date: 28 August 2008

Contact: Anthony Turner
Public Affairs Officer
310-908-6950
anthony.j.turner@uscg.mil
http://www.new.auxpa.org/

If you don’t wear anything else – at least wear your life jacket!

The simple fact is wearing a life jacket while boating, kayaking, canoeing, or otherwise playing on or around the water will dramatically increase a person’s chances of surviving an accident. While on the water a life jacket is the most important thing you can wear. Of course we are not suggesting you don’t wear anything else.

With the long Labor Day holiday weekend just a day away the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary points out that life jacket wear is "critical" to surviving a boating accident. In 2007 ninety percent of drowning victims were not wearing life jackets, and according to Coast Guard statistics life jackets could prevent approximately two-thirds of all boating-related drownings of children ages 14 and under. Holiday weekends are especially dangerous times for boating. In California for example, nearly 20% of all boating accidents occur during the three summer holiday weekends of Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day, according to the California Department of Boating and Waterways. Not wearing life jackets increases that danger.

There many excuses for not wearing a life jacket, such as “they are uncomfortable” or “too expensive.” No one cares about the comfort or the cost of a life jacket when they are in water and that life jacket is keeping them afloat. U.S. Coast Guard approved life jackets range in price from as low as $15.00 to about $400.00 for the top of the line inflatable, although, even the most expensive life jacket is worthless if it is not worn.

It is undisputable a life jacket can and will save a life if properly worn – but what about preventing boating accidents in the first place. Since most boating accidents are caused by operator inattention, inexperience, and speeding resulting in collisions, remembering and following a few simple boating rules of the road, such as keeping a sharp lookout for other boat traffic, can help prevent collisions on congested waterways.

In congested areas, intoxicated operators and passengers increase the already high risk of accident. Alcohol and boating are a deadly mix, especially when combined with stressors in the marine environment, such as sun, glare, wind, heat, and boat and engine noise. Alcohol use remains the primary contributing factor for boating deaths according to statistics from the Coast Guard’s Office of Boating Safety (http://www.uscgboating.org/statistics/stats.htm.)

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is committed to making boating safer. We are the uniformed civilian component of the United States Coast Guard. Created by an Act of Congress in 1939, the Auxiliary directly supports the Coast Guard in all missions, except military and direct law enforcement actions.

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