What is most likely to cause someone to fall overboard?
- balancing the weight of people and gear
- sitting on a pedestal chair while anchored
- fishing from a boat
- standing up in a boat
Answer: standing up in a boat.
Explanation
Someone is most likely to fall overboard when you make the biggest change in the distribution of weight across the boat.
Balancing, sitting and fishing don’t really cause a change in the distribution of the weight across the boat. However, standing up in a boat will cause the weight distribution to change and it will become harder for the person that stands up to keep his/her balance. Thus standing up in a boat is the most likely to lead to falling overboard.
According to the United States Coast Guard’s recreational boat statistics, 299 boating accidents in which someone falls overboard were reported in 2019. The death occurred in 63% of these incidents, whereas the others resulted in serious injuries.
While it may seem unusual for someone to fall overboard accidentally, this is fifth on the list of recreational boating accidents in the United States in 2019. It’s vital to understand why people go over the side while boating.
When the boat is moving, the most common reason for falling overboard is standing up. It’s easier for a boat to be swamped back and forth by waves or choppy water when it’s moving. This causes individuals on small boats to lose their balance and fall into the water.
Although it is still common for people to fall overboard from huge ships, cruise ships, and the like, this is a rare occurrence. The most prevalent cause isn’t standing when the boat is moving in most situations. Alcohol or general carelessness are mostly to blame in such cases.
