LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Boating deaths reached a six-year high in Michigan last year, according to a new report from the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents .
The organization said in an annual report that 36 boating deaths were reported in 2008, up from 35 in 2007 and the most since 2002, when 38 deaths were reported.
Boating accidents also increased last year, to 201 from 193 reported in 2007, though accidents were down from the 226 reported in 2003, according to the report.
Most accidents occur on Sunday afternoons in July, the group said. The most common accidents result from collisions with other vessels, falling overboard and capsizing.
"Whenever people consume alcohol and operate a boat, bad things usually happen," Gary Mitchell, spokesman for the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents, said in a statement. "After years of decline, the fatalities are beginning to increase again."
There were 927,914 boat registrations in Michigan in 2008, up from 830,835 the year before, the report said.
The group advises boaters to wear life jackets, avoid overloading a craft with passengers and make sure the boat has adequate lighting at night and safety equipment. Public awareness of boating laws and using life jackets are the most effective ways to reduce boat fatalities, it said.
Copyright Associated Press
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