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We all know what an odd year 2020 was, and even though we’re now halfway through 2021, the year to be remembered is still with us in many ways. Ordinarily it wouldn’t be remarkable to be posting a story about the previous year’s US Coast Guard boating safety statistics, but this time it just feels a little more, “Oh, but of course; it was 2020 after all.”
According to the report, there were “767 boating fatalities nationwide in 2020, which is a 25.1 percent increase from 2019. the total number of accidents increased 26.3 percent (4,168 to 5,265), and the number of non-fatal injured victims increased 24.7 percent (2,559 to 3,191).”
The report states there is evidence that boating activity increased significantly during the pandemic — this was based on “reports of increased boat sales, insurance policies taken out, insurance claims, and calls for towing assistance.” We certainly noticed the increase of boat sales. Yacht brokers and boatyards talked about the increase in business throughout 2020. Of course we all know sailing is a good pastime, and when everyone had a lot of time on their hands, it made sense to use it on the water. But of course this also translates into an increase in risk. Accordingly there were a number of cases where “boaters had recently purchased the vessel involved in the incident, but had not taken many of the proper safety precautions before getting underway.”
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