Missouri has second-highest number of boating deaths among nearby states
Margaret Hemsath keeps heR family’s boat at the dock on Memorial Day weekends.
“The reason we don’t take our boats out on the water is just there’s a lot of boats, too many for me to feel safe to watch them and watch me do everything,” Hemsath said.
Hemsath and hundreds of others will visit the Lake of the Ozarks, and other bodies of water, this holiday weekend.
Missouri ranks second when compared to its border states in the average number of deaths in boating crashes from 2012 to 2016, according to data from the U.S. Coast Guard. Its total of 15 deaths a year trails only Tennessee, which had 17.2 deaths per year.
Tennessee – 17.2 Missouri – 15 Illinois – 10 Kentucky – 10 Arkansas – 10 Oklahoma – 9.6 Iowa – 6.2 Kansas – 4.4 Nebraska – 3
Coast Guard data shows alcohol was the leading factor in deadly crashes in 2016. Operator inattention and operator inexperience led the way in causes of crashes.
Hemsath said boat drivers should pay attention to the rules in place to keep them safe in the water.
“If everyone obeys the rules of the lake, it could be safer,” Hemsath said. “There’s a lot of people who speed, and that’s the biggest problem.”
Four people have already died at The Lake of the Ozarks this year. An early-morning crash on March 19 killed three people and injured two. The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s crash report claims the driver, Hayden Frazier, was drunk at the time of the crash. An Urbana man fell overboard in April, according to the patrol, and was found dead.
The Camden County prosecutor charged a Lake Ozark man on Friday for boating while intoxicated causing a serious injury. Christoper Miller is accused of crashing his boat into the shore in Osage Arm late Wednesday night. The crash injured his wife, who he claims gave him bad directions while trying to get home from a friend’s house. A probable cause statement said Miller had a .113 percent blood alcohol content at the time.
Ten people died at the Lake of the Ozarks in 2017, according to data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
