Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
How to protect your child from boating injuries
More than 70 million people will be enjoying their boats this summer. To make it a safe and fun time, parents should really make sure their children wear a life jacket—the most important safety measure they can take. Nine out of ten people who drown each year were not wearing life jackets, according to the North American Safe Boating Campaign.
There are efforts to convince people about how important life jackets are to a safe boating experience. Many governments are trying to require that all boats carry life jackets on board, and some countries make it mandatory for people on the boat to wear personal flotation devices. According to the World Health Organization research, these requirements are more effective than education programs about water safety, especially among children.
Boating Accidents and Drowning
According to the most recent World Health Organization and UNICEF report, drowning ranks as the 13th highest overall cause of death for children under the age of 14. And children from the ages of 1-4 are at the highest risk of drowning.
Facts about child drowning from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
- 7.2 children drown for every 100,000 people around the world
- 28% or 175,000 of all accidental injury deaths among children is because of drowning
- 98% of child drowning accidents are in the Western Pacific region countries
- alcohol is involved in one out of five fatal boating accidents (U.S. Coast Guard)
When you are interviewing personal injury attorneys ask critical questions, like: how long have you been practicing; what is the largest settlement or verdict you've obtained, and do you have experience with Boston boating accidents? The Kiley Law Group, located in Andover and Boston, Massachusetts takes time when speaking with you about your case and works with you on a contingent basis so there are NO FEES unless our trained personal injury lawyers wins your case. Call now for a FREE evaluation of your case – 1-888-208-1695.
