A 2015 survey of recreational boaters found the North American Safe Boating Campaign continues to have a positive impact on boater behavior. The yearlong campaign promotes safe and responsible boating and the value of voluntary life jacket wear by recreational boaters through the national theme, Wear It!The annual Wear It! Awareness Survey conducted by Paul Werth Associates on behalf of the National Safe Boating Council, sought to determine the campaign's effectiveness, specifically the impact on life jacket wear, attitudes and safety behavior of boaters.
"It is crucial to get an accurate view of how boaters are behaving when preparing or getting on the water and how they feel about wearing life jackets," said Rachel Johnson, executive director of the National Safe Boating Council.
Leveraging a team of trained volunteers, 1,072 on-site surveys were collected in 12 different states between late April and early September 2015. Based on the locations' level of Wear It! campaign activity, the bodies of water were classified as no, medium or high activity.
"The survey reinforces the importance of the Wear It! campaign's educational efforts on new, comfortable styles of life jackets, including inflatable life jackets," said Johnson.
Key survey findings:
· Boaters in locations with High Campaign activity wear their life jackets "always or most of the time" with a 90 percent confidence level.
· Boaters who are aware of the Wear It! campaign and recognize the Wear It! logo come from High Campaign activity locations.
· Those surveyed from High Campaign locations agree with the statement; "I worry about other boaters and their unsafe practices."
· Boaters who wear their life jackets "always or most of the time" believe drowning fatalities among boating accidents would decrease if more people wore life jackets.
· Top two main barriers to using life jackets are, discomfort and no legal requirement to wear one.
"This survey helps demonstrate the impact of the Wear It! message, especially in no campaign activity locations, to prevent future fatalities by increasing the number of people wearing life jackets," concluded Johnson.
To read the Wear It! Awareness Survey full report, visit please visit safeboatingcampaign.com.
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