Anything you do carries some risk.
http://www.paddle-fishing.com/articles/deaths.htm "The popularity of kayaking is rising sharply, but so are deaths related to the sport, a new study by the U.S. Coast Guard says.
In 1999, the last year statistics are available, the study says 80 people died while kayaking nationwide.
The study attributes the rise in fatalities largely to kayakers who don't wear life jackets and those who paddle in conditions well above their ability."
Here is another good link:
http://www.outdoored.com/Articles/NewsArticles.asp?NewsArticleID=106
For example a couple of other comparable sports:
http://www.massbike.org/info/statistics.htm "In 1999, there were 750 bicycling fatalities and 51,000 bicycling injuries resulting from traffic crashes in the United States."
http://www.mtsinai.org/pulmonary/books/scuba/debate.htm "According to DAN, about 100 North Americans die while scuba diving each year (in 1995, 104 deaths; DAN 1997).
In addition, DAN receives notice of approximately a thousand non-fatal diving injuries each year, and reports on those that contain sufficient information for diagnosing a true scuba diving accident (in 1995, 590 cases; DAN 1997). Most of these are cases in which the diver was ill enough to require referral to a hyperbaric chamber facility."
http://cyberbuzz.gatech.edu/skydive/?page=stat "Activity Participants Fatalities per year Rate per 100,000 participants
All accidents 230,000,000 96,000 42
Traffic Fatalities 162,850,000 46,000 28
Power Boat Racing 7,000 5 71
SCUBA 300,000 140 47
Mountaineering 60,000 30 50
Boxing 6,000 3 50
AIR VEHICLES:
Air Shows 1,000 5 500
Homebuilt 8,000 25 312
General Aviation 550,000 800 145
Sailplane 20,000 9 45
Balloon 4,500 3 67
Hang Gliding 25,000 10 40
SKYDIVING 110,000 28 25"
I note that paddling did not even make the list. I also notice that it is not an activity prohibited by my life insurance policy. Small planes, scuba and skydiving are.
BoaterTalk 
