3000 explosions a year?

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Adelie

What you're implying is that every man woman and child owns 1450 to 3525 motor vessels EACH.

First off I over exagerated to make a point. However I do find serious issue with your math on the number of vessels owned per person in the USA
There are 327 million people in the USA as of a couple months ago so that would only be just over ten boats per person figured at a median of 3.5 billion from my exagerated post. Myself I currently own 5 and only one is diesel and one is outboard powered ( that motor is in a well not on the transom)
At one point in the past I owned a total of 19 boats. ( mad wife so I sold several.)

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by newhaul

When you consider how many boats there are in the US with inboard gasoline engines the USCG statistics of 239 the percentage is likely realisticly well over 2 to 5 billion to one against it happening.

Originally Posted by newhaul

First off I over exagerated to make a point.

However I do find serious issue with your math on the number of vessels owned per person in the USA
There are 327 million people in the USA as of a couple months ago so that would only be just over ten boats per person figured at a median of 3.5 billion from my exagerated post. Myself I currently own 5 and only one is diesel and one is outboard powered ( that motor is in a well not on the transom)
At one point in the past I owned a total of 19 boats. ( mad wife so I sold several.)

You didn't exaggerate the number of boats in the US, you exaggerated the odds of a fire.

You stated the odds of a fire happening at 2e9boats to 5e9boats : 1 fire

There were 239 fires so that implies that there are 239*2e9 to 239*5e9 or
478e9 to 1,195e9 boats.

I assumed 330,000,000 people in the US.

Hence 478e9boats/330e6people to 1195e9boats/330e6people = 1450 to 3525 boats per person.

Saying you exaggerated the odds was not just an understatement but a gross understatement.

In general exaggerating does not make a point, it clouds the issue and makes you look like an unreliable source of information.

[30yearslater]

Originally Posted by HopCar

I've owned two inboard gasoline powered boats. My father owned a gasoline inboard.
I start and run the engines on a gasoline powered inboard boat several times a month. I've never had a fire.

I personally know three people who's boats have burned. All of them were diesel inboards.

I am more careful when I start a gasoline engine on a boat. I always use my Mark I Gas Sniffer that I had installed in the middle of my face before I start the blower.

I have the same sniffer. Works great and what a low cost safety appliance. Mine works best when I open the hatch at the front of my engine to turn on the battery switch. If it doesn't sound the alarm then the power gets turned on.

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by jsc7

I saw a personal injury lawyer's website that began with the statistic, "In 2010, there were close to 3,000 boat explosions while fueling...".

Here is the USCG accident report for 2010: http://www.uscgboating.org/library/a...istics2010.pdf
They reported (page 34):
159 cases of 'fire/explosion (fuel)',
81 cases of fire/explosion (non-fuel),
6 cases of 'fire/explosion (unknown source)'


Is the lawyer just making some ridiculous exaggeration?

Yes, it would seem so. The USCG does not manage to capture every single incident/accident, but they are certainly not going to be missing anywhere near 90% of them.

I am considering buying a gas boat and I would like to get a sense for how likely it is to blow up.

Not likely. There are somewhere on the order of 12-15million boats with engines in the US.

as an aside, here is the latest year (2015) report http://www.uscgboating.org/library/a...stics-2015.pdf

.........

[boatpoker]

I have friend who made medical history some years ago when a medical team grew him a new face from some kind of pig cells after an engine exploded in his face. A long agonizing process.

1 in a million or 1 in a billion, the odds matter little if you are #1.

All fuels used in boats can be safely used by those with average IQ. Unfortunately my experience suggests that "average" is quite a bit lower when boats are involved.

Stoopid tricks by Boat Owners

Stoopid Tricks by Boat Builders

[Adelie]

In the past tense the odds don't matter to the person that drew the short straw.

In the future tense they matter tremendously to folk making decisions about where to invest their limited time, effort, money and other resources in an attempt to minimize the likelihood of death, injury or damage to the vessel they are cruising in.

[wnischt]

If you run the blowers and check the engine room periodically, gas engines are fine. I see many boaters with gas engines who do not run their blowers. Always concerns me when I see that.

[thruska]

This subject has been beaten to death here of late.
Particularly in regards to original post, I mean reall, who has ever heard of a lawyer making an exaggeration. Lol. Lawyer states 3000 , another source states 300. Neither source or post states where or how the numbers were accredited or accrued.

I will venture to guess that propane sources and smokers caused the great majority of fires, that source of course would only be acquired thru common sense.

[nwdiver]

How can you tell a Lawyer is lying....... His lips are moving, 'nough said.....

[Mike OReilly]

According to official USCG stats, there were 1873 boats involved in reportable "Fire/explosion (fuel)” events between 2005 and 2015.

https://bard.knightpoint.systems/Pub...e/Report1.aspx

All events involving injury, death or property damage over a few thousand dollars MUST be reported and therefore show up in this databse. But even assuming a 50% compliance rate, this is a whole lot less than “3000 explosions a year”.

I call complete BS.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

According to official USCG stats, there were 1873 boats involved in reportable "Fire/explosion (fuel)” events between 2005 and 2015.

https://bard.knightpoint.systems/Pub...e/Report1.aspx

All events involving injury, death or property damage over a few thousand dollars MUST be reported and therefore show up in this databse. But even assuming a 50% compliance rate, this is a whole lot less than “3000 explosions a year”.

I call complete BS.

Of those 1873 incidents I wonder how many included alcohol .

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by nwdiver

How can you tell a Lawyer is lying....... His lips are moving, 'nough said.....

Also, remember the old saying which is applicable to both lawyers and politicians . . . "Figure's Lie, and Liars figure!" . . .

[Seas the Day]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

While I agree that the probability of a petrol explosion is low in a well maintained and operated boat, i think you need to re-examine your statistical analysis. There are on the order of 15 million registered boats in the USA. Even if every one of them was petrol powered, the 239 fires reported mean that the odds are more like one in 65,000, not one in several BILLION.

I can deal with a bit of exaggeration, but 6 orders of magnitude is too much!

Jim

Well in all things statistical it depends on the measured population. If the measured population was all relevant boats multiplied by the number of times they are turned on (or visited or whatever) then this would represent a bigger opportunity than one in 65,000.

[valhalla360]

Yes, the lawyer is lying by any reasonable definition of the term.
No, he will probably never get sued or otherwise punished because of the lie.

Gas engines (cruising boat or otherwise) are reasonably safe if the boat is maintained and modest safety procedures are followed.
The vast majority of boats, including cruising boats are gas powered. If it was unreasonably dangerous, it would be outlawed. No fuel, gas, diesel, electric, unicorn fart (pick a fuel) is 100% safe. Decide what you are comfortable with and proceed accordingly.

[FriscoKid]

A reasonable person knows themselves, knows how careful they are, how attentive. Equating carelessness to danger seems reasonable here,....so unless you find yourself in the "Careful" camp, gasoline is not your choice. I have both and am careful. But I know that about myself and trust myself for the care of others. The danger level is truly relative.