Life Jacket Facts

• U.S. Coast Guard’s 2006 statistics stated that approximately 87 percent of boaters who drowned were not wearing life jackets.
• This means that over 400 boaters died unexpectedly because they were uninformed or simply not in the habit of taking this significant safety precaution.
• It is human nature to think it can’t happen to me--but it can.

• The majority of people who drown in boating accidents know how to swim, but become incapacitated in the water.
• Sometimes they are injured or unconscious.
• Others develop hypothermia or become exhausted.
• Some are weighed down by clothing.
• An accident usually happens without warning.
• Usually after the accident, the life jackets are not within reach--in cabinets, trapped under the vessel, floating far away in the water.
• Other reasons why people don’t wear a life jacket are that it is too hot, or it will mess up their tan line, or they are simply not comfortable.
• Many people don’t realize the variety of new life jackets that are on the market--belt packs and other inflatable styles that are low profile and light weight.
• It is important to wear a life jacket at all times while boating.

http://www.dbw.ca.gov/