According to statistics, in the United States, most hoverboard accidents occur due to carelessness and standing up. Carelessness causes the death of people and injuries to them. Most of these boat accidents happen when someone falls overboard.

What is the cause of these accidents? What is most likely to cause someone to fall overboard? Let us see the factors and facts that cause falling overboard. No doubt these accidents are rare. But, it causes hundreds of deaths when it happens.

In 2019, there were more than 299 boat accidents, which caused 63% and other injuries. These accidents happened due to boats standing up. It happens when people travel on small boats, and these boats stand up due to their heavy weight.

What Is Most Likely to Cause Someone to Fall Overboard?

The boats have safety rules to decrease the chance of falling overboard. You should not stand up on a boat without holding the handle. It may cause you to fall overboard due to your carelessness. Do not move on board without holding something safely. Most boats have holding handles for the riders that help them move or stand safely on boats.

A person on deck is not safe when winds are at the peak and a boat has caught bad weather while traveling in water. If you want to go on deck during such a condition, you must hold the handle.

On sailboats, the decks are not safe for travelers and they should avoid going on deck to be safe from unwanted surrounding situations.

Falling overboard happens due to:

• Not holding something while moving or standing on boats.
• Being careless and not paying attention to the surroundings.
• Not paying attention to unsafe situations and moving to the deck area when winds are at peak.

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Why Do People Fall Overboard? 

There are many reasons for falling overboard, but the main reason is carelessness, standing on a moving boat, and intoxication. Due to these reasons, people cannot maintain their balance on moving boards and fall into accidents. Here are the reasons due to why they fall overboard:

Carelessness

In most falling overboard cases, the main cause is carelessness due to which people get into accidents. They do not pay attention to their environment while fishing or moving on boats. Due to this reason, they fall into accidents and even to death. 

When a person stands on a speeding boat without any handle, he may fall into the water. They do this to make short social media impressive posts and do not care. They try to make precious pictures like in movies like (Overboard) and want to take risky action videos.

Alcohol Consumption

Consumption of alcohol is another cause of falling overboard after which people do not remain in their senses. They become out of control and do risky things on moving boats. They try to move carelessly on the boat and fall due to imbalance. More than 40% of boat accidents happen due to alcohol consumption.

Fishing

Fishing is also another main cause of standing on boats and falling into the water. People when fishing does not care about their standing position on boats. People who cannot keep their balance fall into the water. They move their fishing rod and do not focus on their standing position on the boat.

This thing causes the falling overboard on boats and even causes the death of persons.

Ways to Prevent an Overboard Situation

If someone wants to prevent the chances of falling overboard on a boat, he should take some preventive measures. Here are some tips and preventive measurements for you to avoid falling overboard on boats:

Stay Away from Edge While Drinking:

Alcohol does not let a person be in their senses and he does not act as a sober person. If you are on a boat in the sea and are enjoying some fun with your friends, you must be away from the edge of the boat. Try to be in your senses and do not overdrink because it will make you out of your senses.

 If you have drunk over the limit, you must go inside the cabin and lie down until you come to your senses.

Do not Stay Outside While Bad Weather:

When you are on a boat and feel the weather is not suitable for staying outside, you should go inside the cabin. Stay inside, until the weather does not return to a better condition. When the weather is not suitable outside, you cannot move on a boat and may fall into the water. 

You should avoid the deck area because it may be slippery due to water and not suitable for walking on. You may slip and fall into the water.

Wear Non-Slip Shoes

While moving on the boat floor, use non-slip shoes because they do not let you slip and fall. The deck area and boat area may become slippery due to the water and you cannot move on. If you want to move in such a slippery space you must use non-slip shoes and a stick.

What to do immediately when someone falls overboard?

If someone falls overboard, he should immediately try other safety measures to save himself. Here are some safety measures for a person if he may fall overboard:

Call for Help

If someone mistakenly falls overboard, he must call for help and alert the other passenger about her falling into the water. He must shout for help and be attentive to other people for help. If the fall overboard is in serious condition, you must call the U.S coast guard for immediate help.

Throw a Life Jacket

If someone falls into the water and wants to save his life, you must help him. You will find a life jacket to save your life during boating. Wearing this jacket you can watch the victim save his life.

Stop the Boat/ Go Back

Sometimes the weather becomes suitable for moving on the boat and does not allow the boat to carry the traveling sea. In this situation, you must follow the precautionary measurement and stop the boat. When the surrounding and water becomes suitable for boating, move your boat.

These precautionary measures will help you a lot to save a person’s life who has fallen into the sea. 

Final Thoughts

The main cause of falling overboard is carelessness and standing on a boat. People stand on boats while moving speedily. You should not stay on a boat without handles and rods. Try to avoid staging on the boat edge and deck when the weather is bad.

Do not go on the deck area because it is not safe and use non-slippery shoes while walking on the boat. If you fall overboard, call for help and try to alert the other person towards you. Do not use alcohol because it is another major cause of falling overboard.

FAQs

What is the major cause of falling overboard?

The major cause of falling overboard is carelessness and alcohol consumption. People stand on boats without holding a handle and fall due to imbalance. They do fishing and do not take care of their position while doing this on a boat.

What should I do if I fall overboard?

If you have fallen overboard, you should call for help loudly and go inside the cabin to be back to your senses.