People who like messing around in boats should be required to wear life-jackets, according to Australian experts.
A law passed in the state of Victoria, Australia, has saved dozens of lives, it was reported.
In the six years before the law was passed, some 59 recreational sailors drowned in Victoria, according to the study.
But in the next six years, just 16 died – and nine were not wearing life-jackets, according to Dr Lyndal Bugeja, of the Monash Injury Research Institute, Clayton, Victoria.
Dr Bugeja said public safety campaigns and coroner inquiries had little impact until the law was passed.
The researchers write: “These findings provide further support for the adoption of a regulatory approach, supported by visible promotion and enforcement to increase the wearing of [life jackets] in other jurisdictions.”
Injury Prevention 24 June 2014; doi: 10.1136/injuryprev-2014-041169 [abstract]
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