Mandatory Life Jackets be worn

[Alan]

The US Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety is working to require all boaters to wear life jackets on boats. Included on the list of government agencies are the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Service, according to the MRAA.
According to the Coast Guard, about 700 people each year die while boating, a figure that is down significantly from an annual high of about 3,000 in previous years. The decline comes as boating continues to rise in popularity. Yet this decreasing statistic is still driving the USCG to REQUIRE all boaters to wear PFD's at all times while onboard.

I expect there will be some very SHARP disagreements on this one.

 

[Roger Long]

I wonder if they'll model it after the proposed Maine law which was withdrawn after it was pointed out that the wording would make it legal to row out to your boat in the dinghy without a PFD but would require PFD's to be worn while sleeping.

 

[HukilauMike]

Kids (I think 13 and under) are already required to wear PFDs here in Connecticut.

 

[SEMIJim]

Blog article from somebody who's on the advisory council: Coast Guard Push for Mandatory Life Jacket Wear

The current proposal is for boats under 18 feet (5.5m), but you just know that once this camel gets its nose into the tent, the rest of the animal will follow.

Funny thing is: Usually The Admiral and I wear our auto-inflating PFDs when we're on Abracadabra (30' sailboat), but often not when we're on Shazaam! (18' powerboat). Why? Well, on the sailboat I'm all over the decks ("Like a Mexican jumping bean," says The Admiral) much of the time. On the powerboat the only time anybody's moving-about, as a rule, is when the boat's stopped. Abracadabra, we tend to take out when the temps are lower and the wind higher, so wearing the PFDs isn't particularly uncomfortable. Shazaam!, we take out when it's sunny and hotter than the hinges of hades, and there's no wind. The last thing we want on is a relatively bulky, heavy PFD.

Yes, I realize both our boats would be exempt from the currently proposed regulation. I still object to it.

Jim

 

[KD3PC]

so we kill 45-50K people by drunk driving....and nothing is done, but a few hundred dollars fine...

and with 700 dying, part of whom fit the above...we are going to punish the other million people who like Jim are safe boaters, wear the proper gear for the situation...

oh well, and yes once that nose appears, it will be a short time before the whole thing appears...

 

[mcrow33]

Like my mother always said. "If you can't say nothing good, say nothing at all".

"Nothing At All"...................

 

[JVB]

Don't need a nanny telling me when to wear a PFD. Besides that's interfering with Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Nonsense, total nonsense. Enough already, we have bigger issues to deal with.

 

[Ross]

This afternoon I watched a man in an SUV pass a ten wheel dump truck on the right on the shoulder 200 yards from the intersection. Then sit at a red light with the truck to his right. You can't legislate or teach common sense.

 

[Joe]

so we kill 45-50K people by drunk driving....and nothing is done, but a few hundred dollars fine...

...

It's a bit more severe than that..... especially if there is an injury. The drunk driving industry is a huge business, a direct result of all the legislation over the years.

So pick another analogy.

 

[sailaway78]

common sense

Your right Ross, but need to include stupid in there.

 

[KD3PC]

It's a bit more severe than that..... especially if there is an injury. The drunk driving industry is a huge business, a direct result of all the legislation over the years.

So pick another analogy.

In my state, you regularly read about second or third time offenders finally killing someone. The first two times, they got off with $200 to $300 fine and 30 days suspension. Then the current one is pleaded down to a lesser offense and often they only get 3-5 years for death of ...

My brother was hit by an impaired driver who killed 2 people, injured 4 or 5 more before being stopped by my brothers truck. Eight years of litigation and he was sentenced to "time served" as "I am sure he has learned his lesson"..

Analogy not needed. with a death rate this low, what is to be accomplished by feel good legislation when the two most recent boating fatalities involved a fire captain of many years (who by the way received a lesser sentence for BUI) who hit a lighted channel mark, as did the other operator, both at night, both impaired and no amount of PFD wearing would have helped.

 

[KMm]

A lobbyist friend of mine just told me yesterday that there is a State rep. that is writing a bill to require a license and classes for every operator of a vessel in state waters at owners expense. The operator would get an added class on the driver license like the one for motorcycles. They need money it will never stop.

 

[kenn]

A lobbyist friend of mine just told me yesterday that there is a State rep. that is writing a bill to require a license and classes for every operator of a vessel in state waters at owners expense. The operator would get an added class on the driver license like the one for motorcycles. They need money it will never stop.

In Canada we now have the Pleasure Craft Operators Card (PCOC) . Even though the test isn't at all tough, and can be done online, I'm mostly in favour of it because it ensures that the card-carrying operator had to have seen some safety info at least once...

Up here, the test is administered by private contractors, so it's not exactly lucrative for the government. There ARE still alot of idiots out on the water...

 

[Stu Jackson]

Up here, the test is administered by private contractors, so it's not exactly lucrative for the government. There ARE still alot of idiots out on the water...

Isn't it interesting how conservative governments tend to "contract out" government work, like "our" Blackwater guys in Iraq. Somehow I fail to see how the profit motive of contractors can cost less for we citizens. Administering an online test sounds like a great way to generate "profit" at taxpayers expense, regardless of what country you're in.

Do a search or Google on "boat licensing" and you'll be able to read all the pros & cons that have been discussed about this for the past ten years or so.

Not much new for a ridiculous idea, but that's only my POV.

 

[JerryA]

So in my neck of the woods a gentleman drown stepping onto a boat at the dock recently. He was intoxicated when it happened. So should he have already been wearing his PFD? Was it recorded as a boating related death? You can see where I'm going with this. I wear my PFD when I feel I need to. If some day that bites me in the butt, well so be it. It's my choice. I'm really quite tired of the government trying to protect everyone.

JerryA

 

[Steve Dion]

So do we think that they will require all of the cruise lines to require passengers aboard those vacation ships to wear them. And then you have the ferry that takes us across the river 100-150 yards. All of the passengers would need to get out of the car and put on a California life jacket. They also transport school busses on the same ferry.

Just another day for a brainless politician.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Jerry makes a good point. I was working on my boat earlier this week and a Cal 34 came in with a singlehanded skipper. After going up and down the fairway twice, he remarked as he went by, "Maybe I'll make it in the next time around!" I don't think he was kidding, but he seemed a nice chap.

I watched him on his "last" try, and he made it into the slip quite cleanly.

Then he goosed his engine a few times to, it appeared to me, unnecessarily too much to "line the boat up in the slip" before he hopped off. Certainly didn't know the midships spring line trick, or the fact that he was already "in" the slip and just needed to secure his dock lines.

However, the first thing he did before he got off the boat was to take his life jacket OFF and throw it into the cockpit.

When I "arrive" I secure our stern docklines first, with a boat hook, from the cockpit. I do NOT get off the boat until and unless it is secured first. I singlehand a LOT. Once the stern lines, which are kept on the dock, are attached, I turn off the engine and move to the bow to use the boat hook to get the bow lines on the bow cleats.

Then, and only then, do I remove my PFD.

We've all heard the stories about how hard it is to get back on the dock. Well, maybe not everyone -- like this skipper.

Ever feel like you're "rocking" when you get off your boat after being out for more than a daysail?

The worst time to remove your life jacket is just when you dock.

I still think mandatory govt requirements to wear life jackets is nonsense.

Still, also, think the skipper who dropped his into his cockpit was not so smart.

Name of the vessel? "The Velveteen Rabbit" - including the "The"...

Dontcha just hate it when they use "The" in front of a boat name?

 

[Joe]

In my state, you regularly read about second or third time offenders finally killing someone. The first two times, they got off with $200 to $300 fine and 30 days suspension. Then the current one is pleaded down to a lesser offense and often they only get 3-5 years for death of ...

My brother was hit by an impaired driver who killed 2 people, injured 4 or 5 more before being stopped by my brothers truck. Eight years of litigation and he was sentenced to "time served" as "I am sure he has learned his lesson"..

Analogy not needed. with a death rate this low, what is to be accomplished by feel good legislation when the two most recent boating fatalities involved a fire captain of many years (who by the way received a lesser sentence for BUI) who hit a lighted channel mark, as did the other operator, both at night, both impaired and no amount of PFD wearing would have helped.

In California, New York and at least 42 other cooperating states... there is no plea bargaining. i.e wet reckless, for the first offence. The penalty is mandated for first time offender with BAC under .12 as: 30-60 days in jail, $1300 fine, 6-12 mos license suspension, attendence at a 10 week alcohol awareness program, cost is approx. $500, up to 60 AA meetings attendence, and 3 years probation and the violation stays on your record for 10 years... first time offenders with low BAC(under .12) can usually get the jail time suspended...on the condition that they complete all the other requirements and not be caught driving with ANY amount of alcohol in their system. Those whose BAC is higher.... say over .15 (that's 4 beers in 1 hours for a 150 person) or cause property damage, can be ordered to jail and required to complete a level 2, 20 week program.... etc. This is for first time offenders! and doesn't include attorney fees if you go to trial.... which many people do because the penalty is MANDATED... so they take their chances with a jury.

In addition, minors caught driving with ANY amount of alcohol in their system automatically have their driving priviliges revoked..... and all the other stuff.

If you are stupid enough to get a second offence within the probation period... mandatory jail time goes up to 6 months, revocation of the Driver's license for much longer, more school, more fine, longer probation etc...

And....... should there be injury or, god forbid, death in the incident you are facing criminal charges... manslaughter for first offenders, second degree for repeat offenders.

It's a whole lot of misery, my brother... that's why you see alcohol related traffic deaths down... it is a huge deterrent. And yet..... even though arrests and incidents are down, the DD industry must be supported... so BAC limits are lowered, checkpoints are more common...

As an analogy, I might suggest bicycle helmet laws, rather than the drunk driving industry.

 

[JohnShannon]

Definite nanny state encroachment and this at a time when the world is overpopulated and good slips are in short supply.

I strongly advocate that you wear your lifejacket, it is a much better life protection bet than any number of assault rifles.

I would appreciate that my government set and enforce some kind of standard on PFD's so I can be reasonably sure that I am getting what I pay for.

And that is about it, there may be an argument about minor children who are stuck with idiots for parents.