possibility of legislation requiring PFD usage on boats under a specified length when underway. Personal watercraft, or PWCs, have increased in popularity for the last 15 years, and account for about 70 fatalities per year (2002). However, PWC operators commonly wear PFDs, and therefore have a relatively low incidence of drowning. Trauma, largely due to collisions with other vessels and the shoreline, accounts for 70% of PWC fatalities while drowning accounts for about 30%. PFD types as defined by the U.S. Coast Guard such as Type I, Type II, Type III, Type IV, and Type V can be found at the U.S. Coast Guard. In the U.S., one PFD MUST be available for everyone on board. Life jacket definitions for the UK Coast Guard. Drowning In the United States, approximately 700 people die every year as a result of recreational boating accidents, according to the Boating Accident Reporting Database, published annually by the U.S. Coast Guard. Alcohol use was the number one contributing factor in U.S. recreational boating deaths between 2003 and 2012, accounting for 15 percent of the fatalities in 2003, and 17 percent in 2012. A Canadian study published in 2011 examined 18 years of data on recreational boating, and concluded that a "true figure" of alcohol-related deaths in that country "may lie between 46% and 56%". Since 1970, when recreational boating deaths in the U.S. peaked at about 1700 per year, the annual rate of fatalities has been declining at a rate of about 2% per year. The majority of these deaths (70%) occur due to drowning, and are frequently associated with small powerboat accidents. Other causes of death include trauma (especially with small powerboats), fire, carbon monoxide poisoning, and hypothermia. The cause of the reduction of deaths is subject to some debate, but the Federal Boat Safety Act in the 1970s (effective August 10, 1971) required that boats under be equipped with level flotation. This change in boat construction meant that boaters who found themselves in the water next to a swamped boat could climb back into the boat and both reduce their likelihood of drowning, while increasing the size of a search target and reducing hypothermia. Other frequently named causes include improved boater safety education, increased use of life jackets, and improved boating safety gear. Another potential cause for drowning is the presence of stray electrical power from a boat leaking into the water. This