Kill Switches Save Lives
There is a vast history of boating accidents in which property damage, injury, and death could have been prevented with the use of a kill switch. 1935 is the earliest recorded boating accident in which operators were ejected as the boat continued to spin in circles resulting in one death and one injured. The kill switch was finally patented in 1974. Most major boating organizations, clubs, and fishing tournament series require the use of a kill switch by all boaters now.
No Kill Switch, No PFD
This video was posted April 2019. You will see that even after decades of saftey and boating recreation standards can only go as far as the operators of the boats choose. This driver obviously had no kill switch attached and was missing his life vest. As you can see he was very tired by the time the other boat could get to him. Had these brave guys not shown up this man may not have made it home.
There is now a mandatory law that will be enfoced on December 2019 that will require all vessels under 26 feet to be equipped with a kill saftey switch.
This is the type of situation where this father and son were smarter than the gentlemen in the video before and wore their PFDs, but they didn’t use a kill switch. Luckily in this video it seems the throttle was not stuck at a high speed which is good for the safety of the two males in the water.
This video should be all the proof you need on how wearing your pfd and your kill switch can save your life, your friends lives, your boat, your money, & your equipment. These college anglers may have had a bumpy start to their tournament, but they were both able to reboard their vessel safely.
