Pa. Fish and Boat Commission: Data shows success from life jacket regulation

It's been more than ten years since the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) implemented a cold water life jacket wear regulation.

In that time span, the agency has seen a significant decrease in the number of fatalities that happen annually between Nov. 1 through April 30.

"The majority of our boating accidents happen in the summertime, but a disproportionate number of the fatalities would happen in the cold weather months," PFBC Executive Director Tim Schaeffer said. "Since we put the mandatory requirement in for cold weather life jacket wear, we've cut the fatalities down to a third of those numbers."

In 2012 the agency saw 58% of boat fatalities in the cold weather months. Last year, that number was down to just 17%.

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