PropellerSafety.com

Archive for Boating Safety – Page 12

Rental Boat Safety Instructional Materials

Many rental boat propeller accidents, especially houseboat, deck boat, and pontoon boat propeller accidents have raised the issue of the quality of the instruction provided to those who would eventually end up operating the boat. Rental boat instruction on houseboats in particular often focuses on how to operate the boat and its many accessories, how […]

Sarah Roderick: Girl Killed in Lake Havasu Pontoon Boat Propeller Accident

Sarah Marie Roderick, age 8 of Cottonwood Arizona, was on Lake Havasu in a rented pontoon boat on Monday afternoon April 21, 2013. About 3:40pm her father was driving the 24 foot 2000 Premier pontoon boat with his wife and their four children aboard. They were at the Salt Basin area in Mohave County and […]

University of New South Wales (UNSW) Australia Fined in Boat Accident

On 31 July 2009, UNSW (Australia) School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences was conducting a field trip in Darling Harbor. Students were to visit sites within the harbour using an outboard powered RIB and move on to other nearby destinations. The boat operator (a University research assistant with a boat operator license) was turning […]

RYA Updates Position Statement on Propeller Guards

Royal Yachting Association (RYA) recently updated their position statement on the use of propeller guards. The well known national UK boating association replaced their 6 May 2009 one page statement, Guidance on Prop Guards, with: A three page document titled Guidance on Prop Guards for Recreational Boaters dated 28 February 2013 A two page document […]

Propeller Safety Year in Review 2013

A review of the major propeller safety events in 2013 including safety meetings, accidents, legal cases, deaths of those involved in the movement, statistics, patents, articles published, public service announcements, anniversaries, regulations, and other related events.

Propeller Guards Required by U.S. Masters Swimming Open Water Events

U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS) was facing skyrocketing insurance costs for open water swimming events. Costs have risen so high that many members would no longer be able to compete. As a part of the changes, boats will now be required to have propeller guards. Nadine Day, USMS President, says the increased insurance premium was mostly […]

Mitigating Boat Propeller Injuries & Fatalities Chart

Propeller guards on the market in early 2013 are not the optimal solution for all recreational boats and applications. In addition to propeller guards several other propeller safety devices and approaches can mitigate (reduce the frequency and severity) of boat propeller accidents. We created a chart to illustrate these approaches and their relationships to one […]

Propeller Warning Labels Seen at the 2013 Tulsa Boat Show

We attended the 2013 Tulsa Boat Show on Wednesday afternoon January 30, 2013. Following up on our 2012 post on Propeller Warning Labels at the Tulsa Boat Show, once again, Lora and I walked around and photographed propeller warning labels / decals. Once again we were surprised at the variety of decals and warnings. Lora […]

Medical Care Advances Influence Trends in BARD Fatalities

The U.S. Coast Guard has long touted the downward slope in annual BARD (USCG’s Boating Accident Report Database) fatalities as a measure of improvements brought about by: Regulations Law enforcement presence Boater education Boating safety programs Improvements in boating equipment USCG reported 1,754 recreational boating fatalities in 1973 (the highest number of fatalities since 1970). […]

Tourists Being Struck and Killed by Boat Propellers in Diving / Snorkeling Areas

The recent December 2012 Casey Schulman propeller accident is reminiscent of many other diving and snorkeling tourist prop strikes in diving / snorkeling areas. These regions of the world often lack quick emergency response teams, paramedics, life flight, trauma centers, advanced medical care, and blood supplies. Boats are usually not registered and no boating safety […]