Ten people drown every day in the US. And, drowning is the #1 cause of death for children ages 1-4.
It's not entirely surprising reading these statistics since drowning is quick and often silent. Older children and adults are more likely to drown in a lake than in a pool or hot tub.
One lake, in particular, is well known for these accidents. Lake Lanier is located in Georgia and sees 7-11 million visitors yearly. The number of visitors alone could account for the high number of drownings, but the Georgia DNR says they deal with an increased number of people boating under the influence.
Alcohol in large quantities impacts the areas of your brain that help control balance, speech, and judgment.
In addition to this issue, people also often forego wearing a life jacket. Life jackets aren't guaranteed to prevent someone from drowning, but stats show that 80% of people who drowned weren't wearing a life jacket.
Lake Lanier was created in 1956 and estimates state that nearly 700 people have died there since then. These numbers have crowned the lake one of the deadliest in the US. Some divers even report bumping into "rogue body parts" throughout their dives.
The deaths aren't all from drowning. In fact, many happen from boating collisions and "freak accidents."
Local authorities blame the sheer number of deaths on human error and the large number of people that visit the lake each year. But not everyone agrees with this statement.
What do you think about this lake? Would you dare to take a visit to this area?
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