Boating fatalities in Northwest are up 13% from last year

The number of boating fatalities in the Northwest rose to 27 during the first half of 2008, marking a 13 percent increase compared with the same period last year, the Coast Guard reported Friday.

Of those deaths, 22 victims were not wearing lifejackets. Each year, boating officials stress the importance of wearing floatation devices, especially as the summer starts.

"When you wear a lifejacket, you give yourself the best possible chance of surviving an accident," said Dan Shipman, a Coast Guard boating safety specialist in Seattle.

So far in 2008, Washington leads the Northwest in boating fatalities with 12 deaths, up from 11 during the first half of last year. Eleven of the 12 victims lacked lifejackets. Alcohol contributed in four cases.

The Coast Guard report considers drowning, trauma or getting hit by a boat in counting boating-related deaths in Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho.

Alcohol contributed to six of the 27 deaths so far this year, Shipman said and recommended that designating one driver who will not drink alcohol.

Wearing life preservers is not legally required in Washington, but Shipman said he wants wearing them to become as common as strapping on bike helmets or clicking car seatbelts.

Federal and state regulations require only that life jackets be readily accessible on boats.

But children 12 and younger, he added, must wear the devices if they are on a boat shorter than 19 feet.

The market, Shipman said, offers more stylish and inflatable lifejackets that are not as obtrusive as the traditional orange "horse collar" models.

While the more stylish jackets can cost up to $250, traditional ones can sell for only $20.

"There is a cost tradeoff," Shipman said.

"But if you wear them, it's pretty cheap insurance."

Last month, search-and-rescue teams in King County recovered the bodies of two men, a kayaker and rafter, who died in the Green River.

Other boating-related deaths in Washington in 2008 occurred on the Columbia, Cle Elum and Nisqually rivers.

"The big thing is that people need to think about risk," Shipman said.

"They can become complacent."

SEATTLEPI.COM

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