After a record-low year of eight boating-fatalities in 2019, the most boating-related fatalities in 37 years with 32 occurred on Tennessee waters in 2020, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in its year-end report.
Various outdoors activities saw a substantial increase in 2020 and boating was no exception. The TWRA reported a noticeable increase in traffic on the state’s lakes and rivers.
Preliminary numbers indicate fatal incidents had alcohol/drugs as a contributing factor. In additions to the fatalities, there were 61 serious injury incidents that injured 82 individuals and 82 additional property damage incidents.
