Texas officials are sounding the alarm after new numbers show a grim reality on the water: most people who died in boating incidents last year were not wearing life jackets. In 2025, Texas game wardens recorded 178 reportable boating incidents that left 50 people dead and 77 seriously injured, with drownings making up roughly 70 percent of the fatalities. Authorities say many of those deaths could have been avoided with basic safety steps.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 84 percent of boating-fatality victims in 2025 were not wearing life jackets. Paddle sports like kayaking, canoeing, and stand-up paddleboarding made up only about 6 percent of reported incidents but roughly 32 percent of boating fatalities. The agency also reminds Texans that children younger than 13 are legally required to wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket while on a vessel that is underway. “Life jackets only work if you’re wearing them,” Col. Ron VanderRoest, TPWD’s law enforcement director, said in the release, spelling out the obvious that too many people still ignore.
DFW Lakes And Local Risk
The Dallas-Fort Worth area has had a particularly rough stretch. The Fort Worth Report counted at least 12 fatal drownings at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lakes in 2025. Local outlets, including Dallas Express, have highlighted multiple drownings at Lake Lewisville and recoveries in the Trinity River system, underscoring that both boating and shore-side swimming can turn deadly when people skip basic precautions.
Community groups and lake managers say that string of incidents has pushed them to increase education efforts and add or update safety signage at popular recreation spots. The message is not subtle: wear the life jacket, respect the water, and think twice before mixing alcohol with a day on the lake.
Officials' Safety Advice
Texas Game Wardens are pushing a short safety checklist they say consistently saves lives: wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket, stay sober, check weather and water conditions, use an engine cut-off switch when appropriate, take a boater education course, and file a float plan with someone on shore.
Under the Texas Water Safety Act, there must be a Coast Guard-approved life jacket available for every person on board, and children under 13 have to wear one while the vessel is underway. Authorities also stress that boating while intoxicated carries penalties similar to driving while intoxicated. In other words, if it would get you in trouble on the freeway, it can get you in trouble on the lake, too.
With summer and holiday weekends on the horizon, TPWD officials say the safest trips start before you leave the dock: check conditions, bring properly fitted life jackets for everyone on board and be ready to head back early if storms or rough water roll in. Their core message is blunt, and local leaders hope Texans take it seriously this season: the simplest choices can be the difference between a fun day on the water and a tragedy.
