Personal Watercraft Insurance, Boating Fatalities Declining
Although the number of recreational boating fatalities has been declining, the number of PWC-related fatalities has been increasing (table 1–1, and figures 1–1 and 1–2). The increase in PWC fatalities is proportional to the increase of PWC in operation. Coast Guard information indicates that 8,005 recreational boating accidents were reported for 1996, of which 2,868 involved PWC. Personal watercraft in use in 1996 represented 7.5 percent of the State-registered recreational boats, yet PWC accounted for 36 percent of the 1996 reported recreational boating accidents, 36 percent of the total number of vessels involved, and more than 41 percent of the persons injured in those boating accidents.
Coast Guard statistics on 1997 recreational boating accidents have not been compiled; however, preliminary information from the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA)4 indicates there were 83 PWC fatalities in 1997 (additional data from a 1997 NASBLA survey are given in appendix B, and preliminary data by States are in appendix C).5 Including NASBLA’s preliminary numbers in the National Transportation Safety Board’s study on personal watercraft serves two purposes.
First, PWC fatalities decreased in 1996; by considering 1997 numbers, it is evident that the decrease in 1996 did not indicate a reversal in the increasing number of fatalities for 1991 through 1995. Second, the Safety Board’s study collected and analyzed injury information on 27 fatalities that occurred during the first 6 months of 1997; NASBLA’s preliminary numbers for 1997 indicate that the 27 fatalities analyzed are about one-third of the expected number for that year.
