to the Motor Boat Act of 1910. Federal
requirements were established for motorboat
construction, including backfire flame
arrestors and engine compartment and
bilge ventilation. Reckless or negligent vessel
operation was also outlawed.
To further enhance safety and to
address the lack of incident data, Congress
enacted the Federal Boating Act of 1958,
enhancing federal and state boating law
uniformity. From this, the US Coast Guard
was tasked with collecting information on
numbered boats and analyzing boating
accident reports. From these reports:
1960 there were 2.4 million numbered
boats / 819 fatalities.
1968 there were 4.7 million numbered
boats / 1342 deaths.
1971 there were 5.5 million numbered
boats / 1582 deaths.
The Federal Boat Safety Act was enacted in
1971 in response to the increasing numbers
of boaters and accidents / fatalities.
Research in this area showed those
receiving DM training had 10 to 50 percent
fewer errors. Good judgment can be
taught.
Steps for good decision making are:
1. Identifying personal attitudes hazardous
to safe boating.
2. Learning behavior modification
techniques.
3. Learning how to recognize and
cope with stress.
4. Developing risk assessment skills.
5. Using all resources.
6. Evaluating the effectiveness of
one’s DM skills.
Risk management is an important component
of BDM. When a boater follows good
decision making practices, the inherent risk
in boating is reduced or even eliminated.
The ability to make good decisions is based
upon direct or indirect experience and education.
Consider life jacket use. There is
overwhelming evidence that when boating
you should wear a life jacket. Increasingly,
wearing life jackets has become the
norm, placing those who do not outside the
norm. But, this group may learn to wear a
life jacket by either direct or indirect experience.
Example: a boater learns through
direct experience about the value of wearing
a life jacket when he or she is involved
in a boating accident that leads to a personal
injury. An indirect learning experience
occurs when a loved one is injured
during a boating accident because he or she
did not wear a life jacket.
HAZARD AND RISK
Two defining elements of BDM are hazard
and risk. Hazard is a real or perceived condition,
event, or circumstance that a boater
encounters. When faced with a hazard, the
boater makes an assessment of that hazard
based upon various factors. The boater
assigns a value to the potential impact of
the hazard, which qualifies the boater’s
assessment of the hazard—risk.
Therefore, risk is an assessment of
the single or cumulative hazard facing a
boater; however, different boaters see hazards
differently. For example, the boater
arrives dock-side to prepare for a day on
the water and discovers water in the bilge.
Since there had been rain, it was probably
the result of the water level below the level
for activation of the bilge pump.
The quantity is insufficient to activate
the bilge pump. The risk is possible water
intrusion into engine or storage spaces,
especially if additional water is taken
aboard.
The seasoned boater may see the
water as a low risk. He realizes this amount
of water is no problem and with his
back-up dewatering device feels confident
to proceed to fishing. The inexperienced
boater may see the water as a high risk and
cancel the boating adventure.
250 Appendix E
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