Propeller Guard Information Center

Archive for Propeller Accident Statistics Comments

Mar
15
2012

Boat or Boat Motor Struck Submerged Dredge Pipe: Exemplar Boat Accidents

by Gary

The Storm Lake Iowa Laass v. Brunswick case has focused attention on boats and marine drives striking submerged or floating dredge pipes / dredge lines. In the Storm Lake accident, a ten year old boy, David Paul McFarlin was killed on May 31, 2010. A 175 HP Mercury outboard struck a submerged dredge pipe, flipped back up into the boat, and the boy was killed by its propeller.

We started looking for a list of similar “struck dredge pipe” accidents and were a bit surprised not to find any such list. We thought it might especially exist over in the dredge safety literature, but found no such list there either. We found some dredge safety studies, but they focused on the safety of dredging employees, not boating safety.

In the absence of a list, we started making one ourselves. Earlier, when we started making a list of outboard motors that had flipped into boats, we jotted down several U.S. Coast Guard Boating Accident Report Database (BARD) accident numbers for dredge pipe strike accidents. We went back and fleshed out those accidents into a spreadsheet format including the basic statistics surrounding those accidents.

We also checked some media (news) reports, boat forums, and other online sources for additional boat or outboard motor or stern drive struck a floating or submerged dredge pipe accidents. We found almost countless reports online, but few of them are well documented, so we left them off our list. It looks like these accidents happen much more frequently than they are reported to BARD.

The spreadsheet below summarizes our findings. You can download a pdf of the spreadsheet that includes additional columns of data by clicking on it. It is best viewed on a 24 inch or larger monitor. Read More→

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Feb
25
2012

Outboard Motor Struck Submerged Object And Flipped Into Boat: Exemplar Outboard Boat Accidents

by Gary

The Storm Lake Iowa Laass v. Brunswick case has focused attention on outboard marine drives striking submerged objects and flying back up into the boat. In the Storm Lake accident, a ten year old boy, David Paul McFarlin was killed on May 31, 2010. A 175 HP Mercury outboard struck a submerged dredge pipe, flipped back up into the boat, and the boy was killed by its propeller.

First, a point of clarification. The U.S. Coast Guard does not recognize accidents in which people are on boats or otherwise not in the water when they are struck by propellers as propeller accidents, so this is “officially” not a propeller accident.

Marine drive manufacturers use relief valves and check valves in the trim systems of stern drives and larger outboards to cushion the blow and absorb the energy of striking submerged objects. The relief valves allow the cylinder rod to extend (drive to swing up as it dissipates energy), then the check valves allow the cylinder piston to settle back down to a “memory” piston. Mercury Marine is well known for conducting log strike tests which we discuss on our Laass v. Brunswick page, and supply an early video near the bottom of this page.

We often see U.S. Coast Guard Boating Accident Report Database (BARD) reports in which an outboard was torn from or broke off the transom. Some of these outboards sink, while others remain attached by cables, hoses, and/or fuel lines. In some portion of these instances, the outboard strikes a submerged object and actually flies up / flips up and lands in the boat. As a result, people in the boat can be struck by the outboard or cut by its still rotating propeller.

We decided to investigate BARD and some other sources to gain some greater understanding of these types of accidents and perhaps some insights into their frequency. Read More→

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3 Categories : Propeller Accident Statistics Comments
Feb
3
2012

Propeller Fatality Cap and Trade With a Tax On Over Cap Fatalities

by Gary

We propose a tax on fatal boat propeller accidents similar to a tax on pollution as a means of encouraging marine drive companies to prevent propeller injuries.

The U.S. Coast Guard Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking surrounding propeller and carbon monoxide safety (USCG-2011-0497) asked for public comments on possible strategies to reduce propeller injuries. Thinking about the continuing inaction of the boating industry when many good tools are readily available, I began to look to examples in other industries, where firms previously resistant to human welfare issues had been energized for change. I quickly came to the automotive industry and how they originally resisted calls to improve mileage and/or reducing emissions. Established regulatory targets forced them to action (new car emission limits and fleet mileage targets).

Propeller Fatality Permit mockup

Propeller Fatality Permit mockup

Somewhat similar process have been used on broader industries to regulate emissions. Notable policies include:

  • Taxing of emissions
  • Cap and Trade of emissions permits (credits)

We regulate emissions for public welfare. Beyond the desire for clean air, emissions kill asthmatics and others with breathing issues, as well as bring on other medical problems. Automotive mileage is regulated to reduce fuel consumption which reduces emissions.

Our parallel idea is to consider fatalities from boat propeller accidents to be parallel to boating emissions and regulate them with a cap and trade system as well.

We are not saying the program as described below should be implemented. We are just presenting it to generate discussion. Some version of this approach might be an effective incentive in encouraging the industry to take action while not placing too large of a burden upon them. We welcome your comments.

We note the U.S. Coast Guard added a data field to their Boating Accident Database (BARD) in 2009 for “engine manufacturer”. Many accident reports have no entry in that data field, but it offers an opportunity to associate propeller fatalities with the manufacturer of the stern drive or outboard motor involved in that accident. We suggest strongly encouraging state boating law administrators to encourage those recording accident data to make sure they record the engine manufacturer data for propeller fatalities and possible propeller fatalities. We also suggest they capture a digital image of the drive on the boat when possible to backup that identification.

We also encourage providing a means by which those reporting accidents can accurately distinguish between OMC and Bombardier drives (paint color, markings, decals, significant features, build dates, etc). This would be useful in distinguishing boats powered by legacy OMC drives, vs. boats powered by more modern (2001 or later build date) Bombardier drives.

Armed with that information, the annual number of recreational boat propeller fatalities tied to each marine drive manufacture can be determined, as well as annual trends by manufacturer.

Below we present a Propeller Fatality Cap and Trade with a Tax on Over Cap Fatalities. This approach is a hybrid of two methods we presented earlier Propeller Fatality Tax, and a Propeller Fatality Cap and Trade.

Please note, the numbers and dollar amounts below in bold are just placeholders to begin a conversation. Read More→

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Feb
3
2012

Propeller Fatality Tax, Cap and Trade Background Information

by Gary

We discuss Propeller Fatality Cap and Trade With a Tax on Over Cap Fatalities as a means to reduce recreational boat propeller fatalities in another post. While developing those concepts, we explored some other venues as well. The less desired approaches are provided here as reference material.

In general, they present an approaches similar to cap and trading of emissions.

Two such approaches are presented here

  • Propeller Fatality Tax
  • Propeller Fatality Cap and Trade

The numbers presented in bold are merely placeholders to generate discussion. Read More→

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Feb
2
2012

BARD Reported Accidents by Outboard and Sterndrive Manufacturer Used to Estimate Legacy Drive Population Market Shares

by Gary

We are working on a propeller safety proposal that requires an estimate of the percentage of U.S. outboard and sterndrive boats powered by the various outboard and sterndrive manufacturers that are in the field, called the boat park by other nations. These numbers may be considerably different than current market shares due to some manufacturers having large populations of legacy drives in the field. In addition, some manufacturers no longer in operation (like OMC) still have a large population of drives in the field.

We notice the U.S. Coast Guard has supplied a data field for engine manufacturer beginning in their 2009 Boating Accident Report Database (BARD). While this information is only being captured for a fraction of the accident reports, we still submit it as one means of estimating the market share of boats powered by manufacturers of outboards and stern drives in the field.

We created a spreadsheet and examined 2009 and 2010 BARD. We established a subset of data by year that only included outboards and sterndrives, then we counted those belonging to each manufacturer. Several small manufacturers only had one drive. We eliminated manufacturers that did not have at least two drives listed in at least one of the two years we analyzed. Then we grouped the results by manufacturer (like OMC= OMC + Evinrude + Johnson). Read More→

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Sep
12
2011

Shark Attacks vs. Propeller Strikes: A Statistical Comparison

by Gary

We often see media reports referring to propeller strikes as very rare or freak events, while shark attacks are trumpeted as an ever present danger. While both events share some potentially horrible outcomes and spark fear in victims and onlookers, propeller accidents are actually much more frequent.

This post is being written in response to a column in the Newport Beach Independent over the weekend: Surprise! Proposed Boating Regulation Would Make Things Worse. Newport Beach Independent. September 9, 2011.

Shark

Shark photo by Gary Polson

In his column, Roger Bloom discusses the recent U.S. Coast Guard Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) pertaining to shutting the engines down when swimmers are near the rear of the vessel to prevent propeller strikes and carbon monoxide poisoning. Mr. Bloom feels the proposed rule would cause more problems that it would solve. While we do not agree with several of his statements, we were shocked to find him stating that shark attacks are more prevalent that propeller strikes. Read More→

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2 Categories : Propeller Accident Statistics Comments
Sep
1
2011

Stephen Keller Boat Propeller Accident – Boat Propeller Fatality Statistics Under Reported – San Jose Mercury News Misinforms Readers

by Gary

Stephen Keller’s fatal boat propeller accident on Lake Tahoe Saturday August 27, 2011 was covered by San Jose California’s Mercury News, because Stephen Joseph Keller DDS was a dentist in San Jose. Mercury News’ August 31st coverage of the boating accident made a major error in reporting the number of annual United States deaths by recreational boat propellers.

Mercury News said there were 3 U.S. boat propeller deaths in 2009 and 1 in 2010 “according to annual data compiled by the U.S. Coast Guard”.

However, the U.S. Coast Guard annual reports actually indicate 25 recreational boat propeller fatalities in 2009, and 27 in 2010.

In the Stephen Keller accident, Mr. Keller, a 46 year old dentist from San Jose, was the passenger of a rental boat docking at Chambers Landing on the west shore of Lake Tahoe about 4 pm Saturday August 27. He was onboard with four more men from the Bay area. The boat operator was trying to get the boat in position to dock. The boat lurched forward, Mr. Keller fell over the stern and was struck by the propeller. Stephen Keller died at the scene.

A San Jose Mercury News August 31, 2011 article, San Jose Dentist Dies After Falling Into Boat Propeller, covering the death of Stephen Keller upped the ante on how wrong the media can get the statistics. The U.S. Coast Guard reports boating accidents as a series of events and their annual statistics are based upon the order in which those events occur. For example, Stephen Kelly fell overboard (Event 1), and was then struck by the propeller (Event 2). Mercury News only reported the number of propeller strikes in which being struck by a propeller was the first event (Event 1). USCG only reported one Event 1 propeller fatality in 2010 and 3 in 2009. But they reported a total of 27 propeller fatalities in 2010 and 25 in 2009.

Propeller Accident Report San Jose Mercury News

Propeller Accident Report San Jose Mercury News

San Jose California’s Mercury News, reported Event 1 data and claimed it represented the total number of propeller fatalities.

Before we go further, I would like to express our sympathies to the family and friends of Dr.Stephen Keller DDS. We followed the boating accident in several news reports and observed an outpouring of love from many for their beloved dentist and friend. We wish them comfort in their time of grief. Read More→

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2 Categories : Propeller Accident Statistics Comments
Jul
13
2011

U.S. Coast Guard 2010 BARD Unreported Propeller Accidents: Carla Faul Pontoon Boat Propeller Accident in Florida

by Gary

The boating industry continues to claim almost all boat propeller accidents are reported in BARD. They base their claims on the United States Coast Guard’s claims that the more serious a boating accident is, the more likely it is to be reported. The industry says propeller injury accidents are very serious and therefore they must almost all be reported.

We continue to find propeller accident after propeller accident that is not listed in USCG’s Boating Accident Report Database (BARD) or not classified as a propeller accident in BARD. Yesterday we identified between 14 and 19 Florida 2010 propeller accidents that are not listed as 2010 propeller accidents in BARD. 14 of those accidents were reported in Florida’s own boating accident statistical report as propeller accidents. We found 4 to 5 more 2010 Florida propeller accidents in news media reports that are not in BARD. And that is not counting a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officer who was seriously injured by a boat propeller on the job (BARD does not count government vessel propeller accidents).

We present the 17 April 2010 pontoon boat propeller accident resulting in the death of Carla Faul in Florida’s Withlacoochee River as an example of a news media reported propeller accident that is not classified as a boat propeller accident in BARD.

USCG Boat Responsibly Logo

USCG Boat Responsibly Logo

Please note USCG quickly responded to our request for assistance in better understanding why these Florida accidents were not listed in 2010 BARD. This particular accident (Faul pontoon boat accident) was not labeled as a propeller accident in BARD because Florida did not report it as a propeller accident. Back in late March 2011 USCG requested additional information from Florida on this accident due it looking like a possible propeller accident. USCG did not receive the information they requested. Before we leap on FWC for not responding, I am sure I have no concept how busy their office is in the Spring and Summer. Government budgetary issues and staffing may have played a part as well. We will continue to follow up on the collection of missing Florida propeller accidents in the future.

Read More→

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Jul
12
2011

Florida Propeller Accidents Missing From U.S. Coast Guard 2010 Boating Accident Report Database (BARD)

by Gary

As mentioned in our previous review of propeller accident reporting in USCG’s BARD 2010 database, 7 of the 10 propeller accidents we found news media reports for that were not listed in BARD occurred in the State of Florida.

That got us wondering if something might be different with their reporting criteria, their boating accident report form, their database, their method of forwarding the accidents to the U.S. Coast Guard, or some other step in the process.

USCG Boat Responsibly Logo

USCG Boat Responsibly Logo

After we wrote this post we requested assistance from USCG Office of Boating Safety and SPIN in determining what happened (should these accidents be in BARD, where did they fall through the cracks?) USCG immediately responded with a detailed analysis of the individual accidents for the group of 7 propeller accidents. The post below was updated to include USCG’s 14 July 2011 and 6 August 2011 responses. We really appreciate their quick and detailed response on the 7 accidents and for sticking with Florida to determine the source of the missing 14 accidents. SPIN is made some inquiries in Florida and we appreciate their help as well. Thanks again to USCG and SPIN for their efforts. Read More→

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Jul
11
2011

U.S. Coast Guard 2010 Boating Accident Report Database (BARD) Left Out Many Propeller Accidents

by Gary
USCG Recreational Boating Statistics 2010

USCG Recreational Boating Statistics 2010

The boating industry continues to claim that all or almost all recreational boat propeller accidents are captured in BARD, the United States Coast Guard’s Boating Accident Report Database. This post proves that to be untrue.

USCG receives boating accident reports from the states and from Coast Guard accident reports on fatal boating accidents that occur on waters under Federal jurisdiction.

Each year, USCG summarizes all the accidents reported in BARD in their annual USCG Recreational Boating Statistics reports.

To reduce the number of unreported boating accidents of all types, in recent years, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has hired a contractor to capture boating accidents reported in the news media. USCG uses the contractor’s news reports of boating accidents to encourage states to follow up on boating accidents that have not yet been reported through normal channels.

USCG describes their use of the news reports on page 8 of their 2010 Recreational Boating Statistics report. The U.S. Coast Guard reports that in 2010 there were 56 accidents, 11 deaths, 46 injuries, and 13 losses of vessels that were captured in the news reports for which they did not receive an accident report. These represent all types of boating accidents, not just propeller accidents.

Earlier we reported the USCG 2010 public release version of BARD had been castrated by the expulsion of data from over 20 states and many other regions.

Now we will give a closer look to BARD’s handling of U.S. 2010 recreational boat propeller accidents. Read More→

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