Accident Summary for July–December 2024: Available online now
Posted: 04/15/2025
By: Evan Stafford
The American Whitewater Accident Summary for July–December 2024 is now available online. Since our
inception, American Whitewater been a vigorous promoter of river safety information, and
accident reporting has become integral to this task. Charlie Walbridge has used reports
submitted by our membership to compile regular summaries of fatalities and close calls for our
Journal since 1986. American Whitewater has catalogued over 2400 incidents on whitewater rivers
dating back to 1972, which you can find and analyze for yourself in our online Accident
Database.
Our safety program uses these reports to stay on top of trends in dangerous incidents on the
river and our goal is to encourage boaters to reflect on their river running and take necessary
precautions. River running is really fun, and the risks are easy to overlook until something
goes wrong. Previous reports have helped improve equipment, warn of hazardous spots on the
river, and improve the way we prepare for and handle dangerous situations.
These summaries aren’t for everyone. If you're naturally cautious or have lost someone in
an accident, they may be hard to read or too painful to be helpful. Others may desire more
detail than can be respectfully provided. Read with care and find your own comfort level.
Historically, we have published these twice-yearly accident summaries in our Journal, but this
information is valuable to people far beyond our Journal’s readership, so going forward,
these summaries will be made available online. We hope to continue to expand our accident
reporting to include more in-depth analysis, imagery, innovative safety equipment, and links to
useful reports and informative videos in the near future.
You can help! To make a report, go to
americanwhitewater.org/safety and fill out the online form. You can also contact
ccwalbridge@cs.com or message Charlie Walbridge on Facebook. First-hand accounts are best, but
information from newspaper articles or social media posts often provides enough information for
us to get the full story. Everything that comes in will be posted on the
American Whitewater Accident
Database Facebook Page, and those interested are encouraged to follow
us there.
Find all of our online safety materials and the most recent American Whitewater accident
summary at
americanwhitewater.org/safety