One dad too many

Utah is a premier destination for outdoor recreation, including water recreation, offering everything from incredible fishing at Flaming Gorge Reservoir to whitewater rafting on the Green and Colorado Rivers. These activities can be enjoyed safely, but the risks are real: Utah sees roughly 30 preventable drownings each year, and in summer 2026 alone, eight preventable drownings occurred in the state's waterways. 

Wanting to know why the uptick in drownings, Tabitha M. Benney, University of Utah professor and associate director in the School of Public Affairs (SPA), teamed up with the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation (DOR) to study life jacket use in Utah.

“Realizing that many drowning deaths in Utah are preventable was a huge shock to me,” said Benney, who is the PI on the study. “Especially when you realize they are mostly men and people with families—it hits hard.” Nationwide, the drowning rate for males nearly triples at age 15; it’s the third leading cause of death for males ages 15-24 and remains in the top four causes of unintentional deaths until age 55.

And in Utah, over 90% of boating-related drowning victims were not wearing a life jacket. The most effective way to prevent drownings is to wear a properly fitted, U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket, so SPA and DOR designed a multi-stage campaign to increase the rate of life jacket use among Utahns. 

 

Life jacket behavior survey

The first stage is underway. They created a statewide Life Jacket Behavior Survey that gathers anonymous information such as age, gender, political leanings, or geographical location to identify trends in life jacket behavior. Through the end of the year, water-loving Utah residents 18 and older can fill out the survey and help shape the future of boating safety in Utah. “Research that impacts our local community is a priority for me,” Benney said. “Especially if it leads to evidence-based policy outcomes. Changing behavior is hard—even when people want to change, but sometimes we need good legislation to give us the confidence and guidance we need to make that change.” 

 

Much more than a survey

When putting together survey questions, Benney and her Graduate Student Researcher (GSR), Justin Hobbs, were often shocked at what they learned. “That is what led to the teaching and learning section within the survey,” Benney said. “We felt it was critical to educate on the most common misperceptions within the survey because it could literally save someone’s life.” 

For example, they were unaware that different U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets have different performance characteristics—not every model is designed to turn an unconscious person face-up. In an accident, people can get knocked unconscious, and without a life jacket designed in this way, they can drown quickly because rescues frequently take longer than 10 minutes. The survey also details the different types of life jackets so people can identify the right one for their preferred waterways and explains the correct way for adults and children to wear life jackets.

 

Messaging campaign for most-at-risk populations

Since men 18 and older are the most at risk of drowning in this study, SPA and DOR sought out a social media partner who could speak directly to these groups. Drew Billington, an avid outdoorsman and self-described safety nut with personal expertise in this area, will be creating videos to promote life jacket use in Utah. One video will show adults and kids jumping into the water wearing different types of life jackets so viewers can understand how they work. Another will show people of different ages treading water for 10+ minutes. Everyone thinks it’s easy,” Benney noted, “until you have to do it.

 

One dad too many

Results from both the survey and the messaging campaign will be included in reports published by DOR at the end of the year. These reports will be one of the study’s biggest accomplishments—because when Benney initially went looking for information about drownings in Utah, she couldn’t find it. 

“Because of this project, [DOR has] actually been collecting historical data so they can start to publish it on their website,” Benney said. “They also will start publishing a boating fatalities report similar to the avalanche reports that come out in winter.” The hope is that people will be able to see what factors came together to lead to a drowning death and understand how it could have been prevented. This will help researchers and future water users alike learn from the circumstances surrounding these incidents. 

“One preventable death is just too many,” Benney said. “And this summer we have far surpassed previous years in just a few months. That is one dad too many.”

by Ben Kilbourne

Complete the Life Jacket Behavior Survey online, available through December 2026.

For more information about boating safety and life jacket requirements, visit Utah State's website