WHO IS MORE likely to wear a life jacket when out on Dublin Bay – a person on a jet ski or a paddle board?
According to new statistics released by the Irish Coast Guard, as part of its Dublin Bay life jacket monitoring, in July, 87 per cent of sailing boat users were compliant with wearing a life jacket, compared to just 12 per cent of paddle board users.
Of those on a pleasure boat, 82 per cent wore life jackets, while 86 per cent of kayak users did.
Just three-quarters – 73 per cent – of jet ski users wore a life jacket.
Overall, the statistics show that there was 80 per cent compliance with life jacket-wearing in Dublin Bay in July, meaning a fifth of those out on boats or boards didn’t wear the potentially life-saving jackets.
Heatwave
The Irish Coast Guard said that the recent heatwave meant a huge increase in the amount of craft using the water, but the number of boats compliant with wearing life jackets has dropped since the June review.
It suggests this could partly be because some of the people are taking to the water for the first time.
It gave the example of encountering two people in Dublin Bay who had paddle boards with cooler boxes attached to them – but no life jackets.
“While they were within 250 meters from their departing point, an offshore wind could have had serious consequences for the pair,” commented the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard encourages people to visit the Safety on the Water website, and to download the free smartphone app called safetrx which helps people track their travels on the sea, and alert someone if they don’t return as planned.
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