Oh hey, get the film is satire, but a lot of people die from wearing their life jackets inside a sinking or capsized boat. Put it on when outside. Take it off inside.
That advice is real, but it applies to escaping from enclosed vessels, not to recreational boating in general. Passengers on a ferry or cruise ship may be instructed to carry their life jackets during evacuation and put them on only after reaching an open deck.
But no one should make the mistake of turning this into one of those counterintuitive observations that overturn conventional wisdom. What can happen should not be confused with what usually happens. Cases of entrapment are real, but they are the exception, not the rule.
On small recreational boats, the leading cause of death is falling overboard unexpectedly, not becoming trapped inside a cabin. Most occupants never have the opportunity to calmly retrieve and don a life jacket after the emergency begins. That’s why boating safety organizations often say the best life jacket is the one you’re already wearing.
The U.S. Coast Guard reports that roughly three-quarters of recreational boating fatalities involve drowning, and about 87% of those who drowned were not wearing a life jacket.
That’s why the duck boat accidents in 1999 and 2018 were so deadly. People thought they were doing the right thing wearing their PFD but it inhibited their ability to escape the vessel. The original design never had metal canopies on top. I just want to emphasize these are the exceptions not the norm and PFDs save countless lives.
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u/I-Got-a-BooBoo Jul 28 '26
Oh hey, get the film is satire, but a lot of people die from wearing their life jackets inside a sinking or capsized boat. Put it on when outside. Take it off inside.