Whitewater tragedies tend to generate excessive amounts of press, even though they occur fairly infrequently. This creates an illusion of the sport as unsafe. Reality, however, paints a different picture of risk. In fact, a new study by American Whitewater finds that the fatality rate for whitewater recreation is 15 times lower than driving and twice as safe as bicycling. It is also much safer than recreational boating as a whole.

The good news is that the risks of whitewater paddling are quite manageable and are mitigated through training, use of a personal floatation device (PFD), and development of good personal judgment. The drive to the river is probably the most dangerous part of any whitewater trip.

American Whitewater has just completed a five-year study to determine the risk of drowning from whitewater boating. We collected use data from 30 whitewater rivers of various difficulties from across the country. The result: less than 1 fatality per 100,000 whitewater participants. The complete study will be printed in the September/October issue of American Whitewater.

As Jason Robertson, Access Director, observed, “While whitewater drownings are tragedies of a very personal nature for the victim's family and friends, these accidents, fortunately, are rare. Most paddlers will never encounter a serious accident at any time in their boating career.”

Among whitewater kayakers, who have a higher accident rate compared to canoers and rafters, the fatality rate is only 2.9 per 100,000 participants. When compared to other active outdoor sports, kayaking is safer than scuba diving (3.5) and climbing on rock, snow, or ice (3.2).

7,420,563 whitewater boaters visited the 30 rivers in our 5-year study period between 1994 and 1998. Of these, there were 5,732,683 commercial boaters and 1,687,880 private boaters. During this same period there were 64 whitewater boating fatalities, including 26 commercial passenger deaths and 38 private boater deaths. We calculated that there were 0.86 whitewater fatalities per 100,000 participants, or 2.25 private boater deaths per 100,000 and 0.45 commercial boater deaths per 100,000. The river with the most whitewater fatalities was the Arkansas in Colorado, with 17 drownings over five years.

The overall whitewater fatality rate based on user days would be even lower if we could obtain more accurate data on the number of private boaters. Whereas commercial rafting companies were required to turn in passenger manifests each season, private use counts were collected by river management agencies via a wide variety of registration systems over different monitoring seasons, and private use counts often included self-guided trips in rented boats as private visitors.

Lee Belknap, Chair of American Whitewater’s Safety Committee, observed that “Safety in the sport is related to experience, training, and personal judgment. However, the ONE item that makes the single greatest contribution to personal safety on the water is the use of a life jacket or personal floatation device (PFD).” Although not really a problem among experienced whitewater paddlers or passengers on professionally guided raft trips, American Whitewater has found that improper use of a PFD (including the failure to wear one on the water) is responsible for at least half of all fatalities in both flat and moving water.

Charlie Walbridge, another American Whitewater Safety Committee member and author of many swiftwater safety books, agreed with Belknap, saying “Life jackets truly save lives. Whether you are kayaking across a lake, floating your canoe on a pond, or rafting the Class V Gauley River, you can cut your chances of drowning in half by properly wearing your PFD.“

a Unless otherwise noted, statistics are from National Safety Council (1999). Injury Facts.
b Fatality rate per 100,000 participants (except Lightning, Falls, Fires, Drowning, Motor Vehicles, Pedestrians, and Firearms, which are per 100,000 population).
c National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health “Identifying High-Risk Small Business Industries” (May 1999) DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 99-107.
d National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health “Commercial Fishing Fatalities in Alaska” (1997) DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 97-163.
e Matthews, John (1998). Alaska Hunting Bulletin. Alaska Department of Fish and Game
f U.S. Coast Guard.
g National Sporting Goods Association (1998, 1997). Sports Participation. As reported in “NSAA Report on Skiing/Snowboarding Safety.” (October 1999). http:/www.skinet.com/instruction/00/983.html.
h Wittmann, Laura (Sept. / Oct. 2000). “Whitewater Boating Fatality Study.” American Whitewater Journal.
i United States Fire Administration (1998). “Fire Fighter Fatalities in the United States, 1998.” National Fire Data Center.
j FBI Clarksburg, WV. As quoted in Ovenshine, Gordon. (May 7, 2000). “Police Fatalities Decrease.” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
k The American Alpine Club (1998). 1998 Accidents in North American Mountaineering.
kk Williamson, Jedd. Editor of Accidents in North American Mountaineering. Phone Conversation July 12, 2000.
l Plyler, Jennifer. (2000). “Comparison of American Whitewater Safety Statistics to the U.S. Coast Guard.” Unpublished Data. American Whitewater Safety Assistant.
mSporting Good Manufacturers Association (SGMA) and the USDA Forest Service. Cordell, Ken, McDonald, Barbara & Briggs, J. Alden. (1995). Emerging Markets for Outdoor Recreation in the United States based on the National Survey on Recreation and Environment. www.outdoorlink.com/infosource.nsre.