Boating Safety Resources

It's near the end of the boating season, but the weekend boating accident at the Columbia River's James Gleason Boat ramp provides the opportunity to list some recreational boating resources.

IRE offers several resources that can be helpful in reporting on waterways and safety, including the U.S. Coast Guard's recreational boating accident database, which offers details of each accident, plus specifics about deaths, injuries and the vessels involved.

IRE also offers the boat registration database, including vessels registered with the U.S. Coast Guard, including name and address. The data file consists of vessel data and managing owner identification information." An accompanying data file, "includes additional vessels with expired registration, foreign vessels and recreational boats."

The IRE Resource Center links to stories and tipsheets. IRE members can download tipsheets directly from the Web site. News researchers Lynne Palombo and Gail Hulden are members.)

IRE also has In-The-News page, "which includes databases and tipsheets to help journalists find good resources, previously published or broadcast stories about boating safety, and Web sites that can aid deadline research."

Recreational boating accident statistics for the years 1997 through 2004 are available for download directly from the U.S. Coast Guard's Boating Safety Resource Center.

Boat registrations are also available for look-up from Lexis-Nexis and from OPENOnline.