A new study shows Indiana has a low boating fatality rate.
In the heat of summer, one of the most popular ways to take in the outdoors is to hit the water; with an estimated 100 million Americans going boating each year.
While boating is a fun summer activity, it also carries some degree of risk, especially when boat operators behave irresponsibly.
To determine the states with the most boating-related fatalities, researchers at the website Captain Experiences used data from the U.S. Coast Gaurd’s Recreational Boating Statistics from 2018 through 2022 and calculated the average annual boating fatality rate per 100,000 registered recreational vessels in the state; as well as the total number of deaths, number of accidents, and property damages.
The analysis found that Florida far exceeds any other state in the total number of boat deaths and boat accidents; but the also had the largest number of recreational boat registrations in each of the past five years, with an average of over 960,000 vessels registered each year. After adjusting for the number of vessels, however, Utah leads the nation with an accident rate of 105.9 per 100,000 vessels which is nearly three times the national average, while Alaska leads all states with a boating fatality rate of 33.6 per 100,000 vessels, which is six times the overall U.S. rate.
The analysis found that between 2018 and 2022, Indiana experienced an average of 21.5 boating-related accidents and 4.9 boating-related fatalities per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. Among the 47 states with complete data available, Indiana has the 15th lowest boating fatality rate.
To see the full studies statistics on Indiana and other states visit captainexperiences.com/blog.
