Boating Safety

Statistics

In a study using national, medically verified data, boat propellers were responsible for an estimated 1155 injuries during September 1991- August 1992.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported 171 persons injured / 5 dead by propeller strikes during 1996. Propeller injuries are frequently not reported.

Brunswick settled the Lewis case for an estimated $700,000 in 1998, which probably pales in comparison to legal fees incurred while defending this case all the way to the Supreme Court.

Protecting humans from a rotating propeller on pleasure boats is difficult. Whatever apparatus is used will affect the performance of the boat, especially speed, to a certain degree. Most responsible boaters will accept this small reduction in speed for the benefit of the safety factor.

The potential hazard can be broken down into several categories:

1. An outboard motor running at 3200 RPM equipped with a 3-blade propeller, the propeller will strike an object 160 times per second.

2. A boat moving forward at high speed, will first impact with a body by the lower unit of the motor possibly causing fractures to limbs. Serious injuries could be caused by the rotating propeller blades outer edges.

3. A boat moving astern at slow speed can cause serious injuries to the human by the rotating propellers full rear surface.

4. A human striking a moving propeller in a 90 degree angle in relation to the centerline of a boat or being struck by the skeg on the outboard motor from below.

5. The rear 180 degree propeller angle clearly presents the most dangerous area of the boat propeller to humans.

This is not only a major concern to pleasure boaters, but also ski boats, dive boats, rescue boats, boats with children on board and rental boats plus many other boating activities.

In summary, the unprotected propeller of an outboard or inboard /outboard motor is a major hazard to humans.

Many serious injuries and fatalities attest to this fact every boating season.

The Adventure Marine Series 9000 Propeller Safety Guards have been designed in an effort to reduce injuries and to provide a reasonable degree of protection.

Putting A Stop To Threat Of Prop

Reprinted with permission from " The Sunday Okanagan "
Kelowna BC - Dec. 5/99

Nursing students at OUC promote propeller guard as way of preventing boating accidents.

Kelowna - Two nursing students of Okanagan University College haven't graduated yet, but they're already trying to save lives.

The fourth-year students, Erin Fulk and Cathy Grantham, have made it a course project to research and promote boating safety, particularly a propeller guard".

"We're suggesting that this propeller guard is an option that can save lives", said Fulk. "We've been talking to marina operators just to let them know it's out there. Everyone should have this on their boat".

Gerard Raps of Surrey's Adventure Marine Mfg. Inc., which makes the propeller safety guards, said they come in 9 sizes. "If someone is mechanically inclined, as many boaters are, they could install it themselves", he said. "It's really quite easy".

He said, the guard does decrease top speed by three or four per cent. "But it really doesn't matter much if your going 43 or 45 miles per hour," he said. "The safety is worth it".

He said it's an ideal precaution for marinas that rent boats use the propeller guard because their customers are often inexperienced.

Russian hockey player Dimitri Tertyshny, a promising 21-year-old member of the Philadelphia Flyers, was killed by a propeller last July when he fell off a rental boat in Okanagan Lake.