What some boating surveys say
Submitted by Boats Blog
Written by Michael Vass
Something that caught my eye is a boating survey in Australian. The plan is that whis will be the largest survey about boating behaviour. It will take 18 months to get all its data, and will be made up of 4000 volunteers.
Some of the things that will be included in the study:
This got me thinking. What was the last U.S. boating survey? I found the following.
National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) Surveys
- 50% of NASBLA members are inland boaters.
- 94% report that they have policies on tasers used on boats.
- 50% report not having relationships with towing companies.
- 95% report that most boaters do not realize they have to report a boating accident.
- 52% say that boaters in an accident don’t report it because they are afraid of incriminating themselves.
- 67% find BUI a problem with another 19% finding it to be a severe problem.
- 71% believe that if boaters were aware they can lose their driver’s license or boating privileges and /or be jailed, it would help resolve BUI.
- 90% believe PSA’s on television would be the best way to inform boaters of the risks of BUI.
I’m sure there are many other surveys out there. Still I found this information to be important and interesting. I had never considered having a taser on board a boat. I always thought there were more coastal boaters than inland. I didn’t think you needed to report a boating accident. And I had no idea BUI was such a problem, or that the penalties could be so severe.
Perhaps you didn’t know that either. But if this is just a small bit of information from a small database of people, imagine what might be found from the Australian survey? Especially when it includes daily diaries. Well keep an eye out in 2010.
