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Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Boating Accidents

If you were to ask most people what age group is most prone to boating fatality they would guess that it was teenagers. Most people would be wrong.

It is old people who are disproportionately likely to be killed in a boating accident. The rate is lowest for children, most of whom are watched closely by their parents while they are aboard boats. Next it is boaters in their 30's and 40's, who are presumably watching those children. After that it is the twenty year olds. The statistics spike up for 60, 70, and 80 year old boaters. One theory is that they no longer have the strength to swim long distances, or tread water for long periods of time, and are particularly susceptible to hypothermia.