from journal Injury Prevention
Many states require children to wear lifejackets while in open areas of boats, but two jurisdictions in Australia and Tasmania now require lifejackets of all occupants of small, open boats and authors of an article in the journal Injury Prevention urge wider application of such laws. The laws apply to small boats that are vulnerable to overturning or swamping and were passed after voluntary regulations failed to reduce the number of drownings. They say drowning deaths among recreational boaters dropped in the Australian state of Victoria from fifty-nine to sixteen in a similar period before and after the law took effect. The idea of compulsory lifejackets in small open boats may be controversial in this country, but as a person who operates a boat, frequently alone, I can vouch for the ability of wearing an inflatable life vest to save a life—namely mine.