Boating fatality facts
Safe boating is the aim of all boaters and comes from education/training and experience. This excerpt from a recent Boating Statistics report, provided by the United States Coast Guard, is presented in the interest of safety by helping boaters learn from the experience of others. To read the full report, please visit www.uscgboating.org.
Fatality Rate
Historically, one indicator of safety in recreational boating is the fatality rate, e.g., the number of reported fatalities as compared to the number of registered recreational boats. The registered boat population is based on the annual Report of Certificates of Number Issued to Boats, each State and jurisdiction forwards to the Coast Guard. The report also provides statistics on registered boats by length, hull material, and type of propulsion. Please note there are limitations to this methodology. One is that fatality rate comparisons between States are invalid because of differences in the scope of each State’s boat registration system. Another limitation is that fatalities occur on boats which are not registered, and therefore not included in the boat registration statistics. Users should be aware of these limitations when working with the fatality rate. A more reliable estimate of the fatality rate for each State or jurisdiction can be found by comparing fatalities occurring only on specific categories of registered boats.
(Table 29) • Deaths, injuries, & accidents by year,
2004-2023
Year
Deaths
Injuries
Accidents
2004
676
3363
4904
2005
697
3451
4969
2006
710
3474
4967
2007
685
3673
5191
2008
709
3331
4789
2009
736
3358
4730
2010
672
3153
4604
2011
758
3081
4588
2012
651
3000
4515
2013
560
2620
4062
2014
610
2678
4064
2015
626
2613
4158
2016
701
2903
4463
2017
658
2629
4291
2018
633
2511
4145
2019
613
2559
4168
2020
767
3191
5265
2021
658
2641
4439
2022
636
2222
4040
2023
564
2126
3844
2023 Executive Summary
In calendar year 2023, the Coast Guard counted 3,844 accidents that involved 564 deaths, 2,126 injuries and approximately $63 million dollars of damage to property as a result of recreational boating accidents.
- The fatality rate was 4.9 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. This rate represents a 9.3% decrease from the 2022 fatality rate of 5.4 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels.
- Compared to 2022, the number of accidents decreased 4.9%, the number of deaths decreased 11.3%, and the number of injuries decreased 4.3%.
- Where cause of death was known, 75% of fatal boating accident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims with reported life jacket usage, 87% were not wearing a life jacket.
- Where length was known, 4 of every 5 boaters who drowned were using vessels less than 21 feet in length.
- Alcohol use is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; where the primary cause was known, it was listed as the leading factor in 17% of deaths.
- Where instruction was known, 75% of deaths occurred on boats where the operator did not receive boating safety instruction. Only 15% percent of deaths occurred on vessels where the operator had received a nationally-approved boating safety education certificate.
- There were 145 accidents in which at least one person was struck by a propeller. Collectively, these accidents resulted in 23 deaths and 133 injuries.
- Operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperience, excessive speed, and machinery failure ranked as the top five primary contributing factors in accidents.
- Where data was known, navigation rules violations were a contributing factor in 53% of accidents, 34% of deaths, and 60% of injuries.
- Collisions (with vessels, objects, groundings) were the most frequent first event in accidents, attributing to 56% of accidents, 24% of deaths, and 53% of injuries.
- Where data was known, the most common vessel types involved in reported accidents were open motorboats (45%), personal watercraft (19%), and cabin motorboats (13%).
- Where data was known, the vessel types with the highest percentage of deaths were open motorboats (44%), kayaks (17%), and personal watercraft (8%).
- The 11,546,512 recreational vessels registered by the states in 2023 represent a 1.9% decrease from last year when 11,770,383 recreational vessels were registered.
For charts containing the following statistics, click on the individual links below.
- Primary Contributing Factor of Accidents (Figure 3 on page 22)
- Primary Contributing Factor of Deaths (Figure 4 on page 23)
- Primary Contributing Factor of Injuries (Figure 5 on page 24)
- Fatal Victims by Life Jacket Wear, Cause of Death & Vessel Type (Table 35 on page 66)
- Number of Deaths by Vessel Type (Table 24 on page 48)