when I'm running I always have my life vest on with kill switch attached. the only bad thing is, if a game warden see u crank up & ideal a couple hundred feet without it attached is he going to write u a ticket.

In 2016, the Coast Guard counted 4,463 accidents that involved 701 deaths, 2,903
injuries and approximately $49 million dollars of damage to property as a result of
recreational boating accidents.

The fatality rate was 5.9 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels.
This rate represents a 11.3% increase from last year�s fatality rate of 5.3
deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels.
Compared to 2015, the number of accidents increased 7.3%, the number of
deaths increased 12%, and the number of injuries increased 11.1%.
Where cause of death was known, 80% of fatal boating accident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims with reported life jacket usage, 83% were not wearing a life jacket.
Eight out of every ten boaters who drowned were using vessels less than 21 feet in length.
Alcohol use is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; where the primary cause was known, it was listed
as the leading factor in 15% of deaths.
Where instruction was known, 77% of deaths occurred on boats where the operator did not receive boating safety instruction. Only 13% percent of deaths occurred on vessels where the operator had received a nationally-approved boating safety education certificate.
There were 171 accidents in which at least one person was struck by a propeller. Collectively, these accidents resulted in 24 deaths and 175 injuries.
Operator inattention, operator inexperience, improper lookout, excessive speed, and machinery failure rank as the top five primary contributing factors in accidents.
Where data was known, the most common vessel types involved in reported accidents were open motorboats (47%), personal watercraft (18%), and cabin motorboats (15%).
Where data was known, the vessel types with the highest percentage of deaths were open motorboats (47%), kayaks (13%), and canoes (9%).
The 11,861,811 recreational vessels registered by the states in 2016 represent a 0.04% decrease from last year when 11,867,049 recreational vessels were registered.

This is a good idea in the attempt to save lives after someone is ejected from the boat. Smaller bass boats and pleasure boats have hand throttles that need this as well as big bass boats with a hot foot. I�m wondering how this will impact all the little tiller steer boats. If you�re into manufacturing it would be a great time to start producing kill switch kits because they will be in big demand now.

This is a good idea in the attempt to save lives after someone is ejected from the boat. Smaller bass boats and pleasure boats have hand throttles that need this as well as big bass boats with a hot foot. I�m wondering how this will impact all the little tiller steer boats. If you�re into manufacturing it would be a great time to start producing kill switch kits because they will be in big demand now.

When running stats, the devil is in the details. Look at what the propeller safety folks found about making sausage in Austin (not taking a side on the law, just the method):
http://www.propellersafety.com/14695/regulations/kalis-law-misleading-fatality-statistics/

Stats in Austin hearings

Since it keeps coming up, how many of you have been injured by someone else's runaway boat, caused by lack of a connected kill switch, or even know of someone who has? That seems to be why this is different than riding a motorcycle without a helmet, that someone else's runaway boat might injure not just him but you.

So how many times has it happened?

Granted I am only 58 years old, and granted I was born on Caddo Lake, and granted I have only been on the water fishing virtually every weekend for the last 30 years, but I have never seen it happen or even heard of it happening.

Is it worth the risk when such a nonintrusive, simple, and 100% effective solution exists?

Maybe if your loved one is the 1 in a million it happens to, you may think differently. I have a cousin that was thrown from a boat and then struck by the propeller across his back. Unfortunately his life vest prevented him from diving and he couldn�t get out of the way fast enough. Although the life vest probably prevented further damage. Would have been a moot point if the operator wore his kill switch. He was lucky.

There have been several incidents lately of runaway boats coming close to others boats and docks. Then we all saw the guy that risked injury trying to jump back in his boat.

It�s 100% preventable.