You can find more boats in and around Florida waters than anywhere else in the United States.
The Florida Boating accident statistical report was released today and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation says that Florida lead the nation with almost 900,000 registered vessels in 2013.
Florida boaters had more than 700 accidents in 2013 and 62 people died, 15% of which were alcohol or drug related accidents.
Lt. Seth Wagner, assistant Boating Safety Coordinator, says the key to boater safety is paying attention.
"The biggest thing that we constantly see with accidents is the operators of those boats paying attention and you know, maintaining lookout around them, being aware of their surroundings, other boats that may be operating in their area," he says. "The accidents that we have the highest number in, are always where the operator didn't see something or didn't recognize the accident coming because he didn't see what was about to be struck."
Three-quarters of all the state's boating deaths in 2013 were drownings.
The full report can be found here.
