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Life jackets: They float. You Don't.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.--The vast majority of people who die in recreational boating accidents fall overboard or capsize their boats. Once in the water, even an experienced swimmer can quickly lose coordination and drown. The problem is compounded if the person is wearing heavy clothing or has been drinking alcoholic beverages, or if the water is cold.

Everyone knows that life jackets save lives, but they can only work if people wear them. Life jackets stored below deck or jammed into a storage compartment are of now use to someone who is knocked unconscious in a fall overboard.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reminds recreational boaters that the best insurance policy against accidental drowning is to wear a life jacket. Countless lives have been saved because boating accident victims were wearing life jackets, and as many lives have been lost because they were not.

Small boats are unstable at best, and when weather and water conditions deteriorate, there is no smarter move than to make sure everyone is wearing their life jacket.