Thursday, March 22, 2012

Recreation and Insurance: Facts and Statistics


Insurance Agency of America on Recreation Biking is the most dangerous sport, followed by basketball and football, based on injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms. Over 50,000 cyclists were injured in collisions with motor vehicles in 2009




BICYCLE CRASHES

In 2009 an estimated 51,000 bicyclists were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Some 17 percent, or an estimated 8,000, of the bicyclists who were injured were age 14 and younger.  Bicyclists accounted for 2 percent of all traffic fatalities and also made up 2 percent of all the people injured in traffic crashes during 2009, according to NHTSA.
PEDALCYCLISTS KILLED AND FATALITY RATES, 2009 (1)
Age groupKilledPopulation
(000)
Fatality rate per
million population
Under 5321,3000.14
5-91820,6100.87
10-156424,1072.65
16-203721,7441.70
21-242917,2001.69
25-347141,5661.71
35-4410541,5302.53
45-5413944,5923.12
55-648834,7872.53
65-745320,7922.55
75-842013,1481.52
85+35,6310.53
Total (2)630307,0072.05
(1) Includes riders of bicycles and other non-motorized vehicles powered by pedals, such as tricycles and unicycles.
(2) Includes pedalcyclists of unknown age.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Bureau of the Census.
View Archived Tables
PEDALCYCLISTS INJURED AND INJURY RATES, 2009 (1)
Age groupInjuredPopulation (000)Injury rate per million
Under 5(2)21,300(2)
5-92,00020,610107
10-158,00024,107322
16-207,00021,744321
21-247,00017,200380
25-3410,00041,566237
35-444,00041,53086
45-548,00044,592179
55-644,00034,787118
65-741,00020,79248
75-84(2)13,148(2)
85+(2)5,631(2)
Total (3)51,000307,007165
(1) Includes riders of bicycles and other non-motorized vehicles powered by pedals, such as tricycles and unicycles.
(2) Less than 500 injured.
(3) Includes pedalcyclists of unknown age.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Bureau of the Census.
MOTORCYCLIST FATALITIES AND FATALITY RATES, 1999-2009
YearFatalitiesRegistered motorcyclesFatality rate per 100,000 registered vehiclesVehicle miles traveled (millions)Fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled
19992,4834,152,43359.8010,58423.46
20002,8974,346,06866.6610,46927.67
20013,1974,903,05665.209,63333.19
20023,2705,004,15665.359,55234.23
20033,7145,370,03569.169,57638.78
20044,0285,767,93469.8310,12239.79
20054,5766,227,14673.4810,45443.77
20064,8376,678,95872.4212,04940.14
20075,1747,138,47672.4821,36924.18
20085,3127,752,92668.5220,81125.52
20094,4627,929,72456.2720,80021.45
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Federal Highway Administration.
MOTORCYCLIST INJURIES AND INJURY RATES, 1999-2009
YearInjuriesRegistered motorcyclesInjury rate per 100,000 registered motorcyclesVehicle miles traveled (millions)Injury rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled
199950,0004,152,4331,20410,584472
200058,0004,346,0681,32810,469551
200160,0004,903,0561,2299,639625
200265,0005,004,1561,2939,552677
200367,0005,370,0351,2509,577701
200476,0005,767,9341,32410,122755
200587,0006,227,1461,40210,454835
200688,0006,678,9581,31212,049727
2007103,0007,138,4761,44321,396481
200896,0007,752,9261,23820,811461
200990,0007,929,7241,13020,800431
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Federal Highway Administration.

SPORTS INJURIES

Biking is the most dangerous sport, followed by basketball and football, based on estimates of injuries treated in hospital emergency departments compiled by the National Safety Council.
SPORTS PARTICIPATION AND INJURIES, UNITED STATES, 2010
   Percent of injuries by age
Sport or activityParticipantsInjuries (1)0-45-1415-2425-6465 and over
Archery 6,500,0006,1620.6%10.7%27.5%44.5%16.7%
Baseball 12,500,000162,9252.549.827.319.60.8
Softball 10,800,000119,3890.327.631.040.30.9
Basketball 26,900,000528,5840.431.348.919.30.2
Bicycle riding (2)39,800,000530,5515.438.817.734.04.1
Billiards, pool 24,000,0004,5164.118.522.449.55.5
Bowling 39,000,00024,2639.113.117.049.711.1
Boxing NA22,055(3)9.850.739.10.4
Cheerleading 2,900,000 (4)36,2880.151.946.31.7(3)
Exercise NA291,173 (5)2.511.720.255.410.2
Fishing 33,800,00069,9633.316.713.055.911.2
Football 9,300,000 (6)489,6760.349.240.79.70.1
Golf 21,900,00035,199 (7)4.618.47.840.129.1
Gymnastics 4,800,00028,743 (8)3.470.221.54.90.1
Hockey, street and field NA8,210 (9)0.637.155.56.8(3)
Horseback riding NA68,8711.617.620.955.44.5
Horseshoe pitching NA2,5043.515.511.753.615.7
Ice hockey 3,300,00019,6130.131.352.915.60.1
Ice skating NA23,0461.748.921.426.01.9
Martial arts NA33,1041.021.730.246.50.7
Mountain biking 7,200,00011,1950.17.727.064.40.8
Mountain climbing NA3,4782.012.936.641.86.6
Racquetball, squash and paddleball NA5,7150.13.729.761.94.6
Roller skating NA68,657 (10)0.654.913.130.90.5
Rugby NA15,105(3)4.977.517.6(3)
Scuba diving NA1,331 (11)1.26.234.052.36.3
Skateboarding 7,700,000130,6271.345.143.010.40.1
Snowboarding 6,100,00057,555(3)26.849.223.70.2
Snowmobiling NA11,010(3)7.222.666.33.9
Soccer 13,500,000226,1420.742.439.417.40.1
Swimming 51,900,000225,493 (12)9.841.917.827.62.8
Tennis 12,300,00022,7680.815.421.041.021.7
Track and field NA27,830(3)35.250.613.21.0
Volleyball 10,600,00058,0720.330.741.027.10.9
Water skiing 5,200,0008,8810.810.234.554.5(3)
Weight lifting 31,500,00094,6923.610.233.749.82.7
Wrestling 2,900,00042,486(3)36.459.14.5(3)
(1) Treated in hospital emergency departments.
(2) Excludes mountain biking.
(3) Less than 0.1 percent.
(4) Data for 2008.
(5) Includes exercise equipment (61,196 injuries) and exercise activity (229,977 injuries).
(6) Includes participation in tackle football only.
(7) Excludes golf carts (13,838 injuries).
(8) Excludes trampolines (92,159 injuries).
(9) Excludes 6,069 injuries in skating, unspecified.
(10) Includes roller skating (51,956 injuries) and in-line skating (16,701 injuries).
(11) Data for 2009.
(12) Includes injuries associated with swimming, swimming pools (2008 data), pool slides (2008 data), diving or diving boards and swimming pool equipment.

NA=Data not available.

Source: National Safety Council.
TOP TEN SPORTS, RANKED BY 2009 PARTICIPATION (1)
(millions)
RankSport199920012003200520072009
1Exercise walking80.878.381.686.089.893.4
2Exercising with equipment45.243.950.254.252.957.2
3Camping (vacation/overnite)50.148.753.446.047.550.9
4Swimming57.954.852.358.052.350.2
5Bowling41.641.941.945.443.545.0
6Workout at club24.126.529.534.736.838.3
7Bicycle riding42.439.038.341.137.438.1
8Weight liftingNA23.925.933.533.234.5
9Hiking28.126.126.729.828.634.0
10Aerobic exercising26.226.328.033.730.333.1
(1) Includes people age 7 years or old who participated more than once. Based on a survey conducted every two years.

NA=Data not available.

Source: National Sporting Goods Association.

RECREATIONAL BOATING

Federal law requires owners of recreational boats to register them. In 2010 there were 12.4 million registered boats, down from 12.9 million in 2005. An accident occurring on a recreational boat must be reported to the Coast Guard if a person dies or is injured and requires medical treatment beyond first aid, if damage to the boat or other property exceeds $2,000, if the boat is lost or if a person disappears from the boat. Out of the 4,604 accidents reported in 2010, 608 occurred in Florida, accounting for 13 percent of all incidents. Other states with a high number of boating accidents were California (412), New York (211), Maryland (196) and Texas (163).

Boating fatalities fell 8.7 percent from 736 in 2009 to 672 in 2010. The rate per 100,000 registered boats was 5.4, down from 5.8 in 2009. The number of accidents fell 2.7 percent from 4,730 in 2009 to 4,604 in 2010. Injuries also fell, from 3,358 in 2009 to 3,153 in 2010 or 6.1 percent. Property damage totaled $36 million in both 2010 and 2009 following a record $54 million in 2008.

Research has shown that alcohol, combined with typical boating conditions such as motion, vibration, engine noise, sun, wind and spray can impair a person's abilities much faster than alcohol consumption on land. Boat operators with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above 0.10 percent are estimated to be more than 10 times more likely to be killed in a boating accident than boat operators with zero BAC. Alcohol was the largest factor in boating deaths in 2010 (19 percent of boating fatalities), causing 126 deaths in 330 accidents and resulting in 293 injuries. Other factors were operator inattention, accounting for 49 deaths, and operator inexperience, resulting in 33 deaths.
RECREATIONAL BOATING ACCIDENTS, 2006-2010 (1)
 Accidents Fatalities  
YearTotalInvolving
alcohol use (2)
TotalInvolving
alcohol use (2)
InjuriesProperty damage
 ($ millions)
20064,9674037101483,474$44
20075,1914216851573,67353
20084,7893877091533,33154
20094,7303087361203,35836
20104,6043306721263,15336
(1) Includes accidents involving $2,000 or more in property damage.
(2) The use of alcohol by a boat's occupants was a direct or indirect cause of the accident.
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard.
  • Almost three-fourths of all fatal boating accident victims drowned in 2010 and, of those, 88 percent were not wearing life jackets.
  • The most common types of boats involved in reported accidents in 2010 were open motorboats (46 percent), personal watercraft (20 percent) and cabin motorboats (14 percent).
 
TOP TEN STATES BY RECREATIONAL BOATING ACCIDENTS, 2010
RankStateAccidentsDeathsPeople injuredProperty damage ($000)
1Florida60869364$7,408
2California412482813,613
3New York211271401,304
4Maryland1969152855
5Texas16328142694
6Missouri161141111,061
7North Carolina14824120569
8Georgia1351994230
9Michigan1322790457
10Ohio1271680459
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard.

For no obligation coverage information and/or questions contact Insurance Agency of America (IAOA).

Insurance Agency of America Inc
377 Oak St, Executive Center Suite 2
Garden City, NY 11530
Ph: 877-496-7283
Fx: 516-750-8723