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<figure id="attachment_3598" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3598" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/04/New-45-Coast-Guard-Response-boat.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3598" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/04/New-45-Coast-Guard-Response-boat-300x200.jpg" alt="Coast Guard Station Cape Charles' new 45-foot Response Boat - Medium is shown moored next to the station's 41-foot Utility Boat (UTB), Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. The RB-M marks the 100th boat of 166 being delivered to the Coast Guard to replace the aging UTB fleet. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd David Weydert " width="300" height="200" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3598" class="wp-caption-text">Coast Guard Station Cape Charles&#8217; new 45-foot Response Boat &#8211; Medium is shown moored next to the station&#8217;s 41-foot Utility Boat (UTB), Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. The RB-M marks the 100th boat of 166 being delivered to the Coast Guard to replace the aging UTB fleet. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd David Weydert</figcaption></figure>
<p id="releaseHeadline"><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard released its 2013 Recreational Boating Statistics Wednesday, revealing that boating fatalities that year totaled 560 — the lowest number of boating fatalities on record.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">From 2012 to 2013, deaths in boating-related accidents decreased 14 percent, from 651 to 560, and injuries decreased from 3,000 to 2,620, a 12.7 percent reduction. The total reported recreational boating accidents decreased from 4,515 to 4,062, a 10 percent decrease.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The fatality rate for 2013 of 4.7 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels reflected a 13 percent decrease from the previous year&#8217;s rate of 5.4 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. Property damage totaled approximately $39 million.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">&#8220;We are pleased that there have been fewer accidents on waterways in recent years and thank our partners for their work,&#8221; said Capt. Jon Burton, director of inspections and compliance at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters. &#8220;Together we will continue to stress the importance of life jacket use, boating education courses and sober boating.&#8221;<br />
</span><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The report states alcohol use was the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; it was listed as the leading factor in 16 percent of deaths. Operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperience, excessive speed and machinery failure ranked as the top five primary contributing factors in accidents.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Where the cause of death was known, 77 percent of fatal boating accident victims drowned; of those drowning victims, 84 percent were not wearing a life jacket. Where boating instruction was known, 20 percent of deaths occurred on vessels where the operator had received boating safety instruction. The most common types of vessels involved in reported accidents were open motorboats, personal watercraft and cabin motorboats.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Coast Guard reminds all boaters to boat responsibly while on the water: wear a life jacket, take a boating safety course, get a free vessel safety check and avoid alcohol consumption.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">To view the 2013 Recreational Boating Statistics, <a href="http://www.uscgboating.org/assets/1/AssetManager/2013RecBoatingStats.pdf.%20" target="_blank"><strong>click here.</strong></a><br />
For more information on boating responsibly, to go the <a href="http://www.uscgboating.org.%20" target="_blank"><strong>Boating Safety Resource Center</strong> </a></span></p>
<figure id="attachment_3508" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3508" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chesapeake-1850-Steamboats-Oyster-Reader/dp/B00F892QEQ/ref=pd_sim_b_8?ie=UTF8&;refRID=1Q7M58TAA4AJ2X8GB0BQ"><img class="wp-image-3508 size-medium" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Chesapeake-1850-aud-300x300.jpg" alt="Available in eBook, paperback and audiobook" width="300" height="300" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3508" class="wp-caption-text">Available in eBook, paperback and audiobook</figcaption></figure>

U.S. Coast Guard releases 2013 Recreational Boating Statistics Report; Alcohol Leading Cause of Fatal
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