What piece of equipment is most important in preventing propeller strike injuries?

What Piece of Equipment on a Boat is Most Important in Preventing Propeller Strike Injuries?

I am guessing you’re here because you have a Boat Ed exam, Quizlet, or boating test to complete. Please don’t take any short-cuts as the question; what piece of equipment on a boat is most important in preventing propeller strike injuries, is so essential that you need to understand the dangers involved. Read the short answer below, then some safety advice.

The piece of equipment on a boat that is most important in protecting propeller strike injuries is the ignition safety switch lanyard. It is also known as a kill switch, and is attached to the ignition, meaning the captain will cut the engine and propeller if he or she falls away from the helm.

What the answer options are

The multiple-choice answers to this question for you to choose from were:

1. steering control
2. ignition safety switch lanyard
3. self-circling device
4. USCG-approved life jacket

The correct answer being “b”, the ignition safety switch lanyard.

What does an ignition safety switch lanyard look like?

Here is an image I found when doing a Google Shopping search. It shows 5 different pieces of equipment, all of which are very similar in design.

Ignition safety switch lanyard are very important in helping prevent propeller strike injuries – and are cheap to buy too!

As you can see, all have a cord which will connect into the ignition on the boat, and then clip onto the boat operator.

The important thing here is how cheap they are.

For just a few bucks, this piece of equipment could help prevent you suffering a propeller strike injury. It could be the most important gadget you have on your boat.

Will this piece of equipment prevent all propeller strike injuries?

Unfortunately, not.

What it will do is immediately turn off the engine and propeller if the boat operator falls overboard, it won’t help should the boat endanger another person in the water.

Elsewhere on Pontoonopedia, I have written a guide which shows you how you can protect people in the water against propeller strikes. In that guide there are 19 safety tips which I recommend anybody taking a boating exam should read and memorize.

There are other safety devices and pieces of equipment that will help prevent propeller strikes which you can read about in that post including:

• Propeller guards
• Ringed propellers
• Propulsion alternatives such as jet drives
• Ladder interlocks
• Electronic sensors
• Wrist lanyards
• Kill switches
• Wireless cut-off switches

One of the cheapest preventative safety devices from the list above are propeller guards. These act to encircle the blades, meaning fingers, limbs and bodies aren’t as easily exposed to the danger of a strike.

You can see an example of what a propeller guard looks like in the video below.

Unfortunately not all boaters, including pontoon boat owners, fit them because a guard can increase the drag on the boat through the water, affecting performance and speed.

Please don’t cheat on your boater exam

Whilst I have given you the answer to the question; “what piece of equipment on a boat is most important in preventing propeller strike injuries”, please don’t just click the correct answer in your test and leave it at that.

Finding the quick and easy answers online, and not revising properly and learning boating rules won’t help you should you ever get caught by the police or US Coast Guard.

It also won’t help you in being a responsible and safe boat operator.

For example, did you know that in 2002 there were 812 accidents, injuries, and fatalities as the result of propeller strikes?

Many of these could have been avoided if the boat operator had been cautious, safe, and responsible – and that means understanding the best ways to prevent accidents happening in the first place.

Here are those 2002 statistics in detail. It makes for very sobering reading.

Propeller fatality statistics – 162 cases in 2002

• 51% of deaths happen in lakes.
• Florida has the most fatalities at 17%, following by Louisiana at 7%.
• The four most common deaths resulting from propeller strikes are (1) falling off the boat towards the propeller, (2) being struck by the propeller, (3) collision with the boat, and (4) an accident with the propeller whilst water skiing.
• The most common accident causes are alcohol, operator in-attention, carelessness, and excessive speed.
• 24% of all victims were younger than 20 years old.

Propeller injury statistics – 650 cases in 2002

• 43% of all injuries happen in lake water.
• Florida is the most accident-prone location at 14%, following by California at 10%.
• The three most common accidents resulting from propeller strikes are (1) being struck by the propeller, (2) falling off the boat towards the propeller, and (3) an accident with the propeller whilst water skiing.
• The most common accident causes are operator in-attention, passenger or skier behavior, operator inexperience, carelessness, and alcohol.
• 36% of all victims were younger than 20 years old.
• Injury types including lacerations at 76%, broken bones at 7%, and head injuries at 6%. There were also 3% instances of an amputation.

To summarize here, compared to a vehicle accident, if you are involved in an accident on a boat you are almost 3 times as likely to be killed.

The reason being?

Boats don’t have the same level of protection that vehicles on the road do, and there is the additional risk of drowning in water.

Cheating on your boat exam might seem like the easy way out, and I can understand wanting to get a quick answer if your test is under strict time constraints. BUT, if you end up hurting yourself or a passenger, OR even worse, killing someone, then the lack of boating education simply isn’t worth it.

The last word…

The propeller isn’t just dangerous to the operator on the boat, but also any other passengers, and even more so for swimmers, divers, and skiers in the water itself.

A propeller has the capacity to inflict 160 strikes onto a human body in just 1 second, when the boat’s engine is running at just over 3,000 rpm. The propeller can also travel up a person’s body in just under a tenth of 1 second.

The reality of that is horrific.

It can be deadly.

Believe it or not, an ignition safety switch lanyard isn’t actually required by law. Thankfully though, all boat manufacturers now install and fit them as standard.

If you have lost yours, or it has become damaged, don’t neglect to replace it.

For five bucks you can buy a replacement on Amazon and eBay and it could very well end up saving your life.

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