how can we stop our citizens from drowning?

A very few years ago most of a family travelling home from a lovely holiday in Scotland, stopped for a break beside a well known Loch Lomond beauty spot. Not knowing how deep and how cold the water was and it being a hot day, some of them jumped in. They died.

As others have said, only educating people about the dangers of deep, cold water will make a difference. Even good swimmers can't always manage the speedy physiological effects on their bodies.

Macadia

In other countries you can get fined if not wearing a life preserver jacket when near a body of water.

Surely not. I know some countries make it a legal requirement to wear life preservers when you're more than a certain distance out on the water, but nowhere where it applies if you're on land.

Over 1,000 public swimming baths have been closed since 2010.

So many of the deaths by drowning are accidental. Recently the ones I can remember seeing reported were a young girl fishing with her dad, another young girl who fell into the Thames, and an older man attempting to save children he thought were in trouble in the sea. Strictly speaking all those deaths were preventable, but in reality things go wrong and people make decisions impulsively, or simply fall. It’s tragic, but I don’t think it is possible to eliminate all deaths by drowning, whatever safety measures are taken.

Sometimes its not the person acting out but it is nature acting out. I have known people who have died from drowning and in almost every case they were not acting irresponsibly.

escaped

I don't think we can ever do anything about many young men feeling immortal and taking risks.

Totally agree this has been a fact for many generations.
My neice was a teacher at a local Senior school one of the pupils jumped off a near by Pier, survived but Paralysed from neck downwards. She said he was always pushing the boundaries.

I don't think we can ever do anything about many young men feeling immortal and taking risks.

Sometimes accidents happen to the most safety conscious people. Sometimes people get drunk and do stupid things. Sometimes people are just stupid.
I know people who rave about wild swimming and I suppose its their choice but, when children drown it is a tragic statistic and we should do what we can to make them aware of the dangers...making out that jumping into a cold lake on a hot day is fun and healthy is not my idea of caring about the kids.

All children should be taught to swim and given appropriate safety advice. The rest is up to them and to their parents

My dd goes deep lake swimming wearing a wet suit, always in a group. It is nonsense about wearing buoyancy aids, that is up to the individual. If they need a buoyancy aid they should not be in a flowing river or other `dangerous` waters

DGS and his dad do free diving ie 20m deep in lakes, no buoyancy aids and no breathing apparatus

We just had another one occur last week. It is so sad.

I think it only applies to under 18s (not sure) but, yes, ridiculously, you would have to wear it while walking to town or going to seaside.

Most of the drownings I have read about, the victims were known as strong swimmers.

Macadia

In other countries you can get fined if not wearing a life preserver jacket when near a body of water.

What happens if you live beside a body of water? or go to the seaside? We are buying a house where the street runs beside a brook for about 100 yards. Will we need to wear a life jacket every time we walk into town?

Some recent deaths have been drink related in towns and cities where there are rivers - York and Durham come to mind. Years ago, a student here left a bar to walk home, it was thought he’d gone on a jetty to be sick in the river, overbalanced and drowned.
Wearing a life preserver in such places isn’t feasible.

Warning notices and in some places fencing, doesn’t seem to deter those keen to get near the water.

Education - at school, colleges etc. On TV. Advertising hoardings. Giving statistics.

In other countries you can get fined if not wearing a life preserver jacket when near a body of water.

It is like all those groups of lads where one has just passed his driving test, and 3 or 4 of them jump in a car and drive round their neighbourhood, in town or country at great speed, run out of road, hit trees etc etc and kill themselves.

Short of incarcerating all young males between 15-25, I cannot think of a solution.

Well you can’t help stupidity If there are notices up and there usually are and people ( mostly lads) choose to ignore them you can’t do anything
All we can do is teach our kids from young that a notice is there for a reason but some young men just know best or just don’t think
It’s sad but that’s how it is nothing more to be done i m afraid and it will happen again this year and next

Stop young men from showing off?