Florida Boating Accidents Up In 2015
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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - Florida had 737 boating accidents last year, an increase of 103 accidents from year before.
While the number of accidents was up, the number of fatalities dropped, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Many of the accidents in this report could have been prevented if the boat operators had paid attention to everything going on around their vessel, maintained a proper lookout and if everyone had been wearing a life jacket," said Capt. Tom Shipp, of the commission's Boating and Waterways Section, in a statement.
In all, 55 people died in 2015, down from 73 in 2014. People falling overboard was the leading cause of death.
The state is surrounded by water, it should be no surprise that Florida led the nation with 915,713 registered vessels in 2015.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.