File Photo – Lehtikuva.
As many as 40 people died from recreational boating mishaps in 2015, according to the Transport Safety Agency-Trafi preliminary statistics.
According to the Head of the Water Transport unit of Trafi, Ville Räisänen, 2015 could even be a record year since never before has the number of waterway deaths been so low.
Nearly all the accidents involved small motor and rowing boats. The most common form of accident was as a result of falling or inclination.
All the fatalities were men except in one case. Approximately a quarter of the victims were over 75-year-old.
The low number of deaths in 2015 could partly be explained by the chilly summer but also attitudinal change.
In the mid-1980s, for instance, more than 90 people died on average every year. In the early 2000s, the figure was more than 60 annually.
