baysarPresident of BAYSAR Search and Rescue Stan French says the results are encouraging.

This, after they found a 24.5% improvement in boaters wearing their lifejackets compared to last year’s numbers. French says he hopes the results mean people are getting the message.

He says “it could be a societal trend towards thinking it’s better to be safe. Who wants to collect on life insurance, it’s better to wear your life insurance.”

The BAYSAR results show a total of 38% of boaters were wearing their PFD, including 79 percent of those in a canoe or kayak and 100% of those in a personal water craft.

However just 67 out of the 185 people spotted on an open power boat were wearing their PFD’s which translate to 33%.

French says they offered t-shirts and other prizes for those who were spotted with a PFD and that may have helped increase their numbers.

But overall, he says they are hoping it’s just becoming a shift in the mindset to be safer on area water ways.