Responsibility
I choose to wear a proper PFD while I am sailing, operating our 14' powerboat, while kayaking, basically anytime that I'm boating...especially if I'm solo. Do I feel that wearing a PFD should be required by law? No, for many reasons. First, we are constantly seeing more and more laws enacted that try to save us from out own stupidity, legislating common sense never works! Should all boaters wear a PFD at all times? Maybe, but should it be a law? NO!In the USA the US Coast Guard requires that ALL boats carry at least one proper sized, servicable PFD for each person on the boat, that is LAW, yet I see many boats operating without ANY PFDs aboard! In Massachusetts the Law requires that ALL persons aboard a Canoe or Kayak between September 14 and May 15 wear a PFD, many don't....last Fall (October) we lost 2 "expert" kayakers in the waters off Cape Cod (on a cold, windy, foggy day). Neither was wearing a PFD, in fact neither even had one in the boat! Immediately after this tragedy there was great outcry to change the law, and make PFD wearing by canoists and kayakers Mandatory Year-round. This would apply to ALL waters, both quiet streams and open ocean. My problem with this idea (law has not been passed yet) is that why make a stricter law....when the already in place laws were not obeyed, so, I guess more people will obey a stricter law than the present law?Boating can be dangerous, when we consent to go boating we accept the risk, and the smart ones take precautions (like at least carrying PFDs, better yet wear them!), those that don't usually still come home safely, but.....they made the choice (either by accepting risk, or out of ignorance?) to go out without proper gear.As Darwin would say, "Survival of the fittest"?Yes, I feel sorry for any family member who has lost a loved one in a boating accident, but the victim (or the operater of the boat if victim was passenger) made the choice to go out unprepared and must now accept the consequences!Tough love, but unfortunately.....that is life!In other words, I wear my PFD 99% or greater of the time, but I want that to remain MY CHOICE, not the Government's mandate!The majority of the people who will obey any law requiring wearing of PFDs will be those who already do wear them. Yes, we may save a few lives with more laws, but each law reduces our choices. Many states now have laws requiring that young bicyclists wear helmets, funny thing is that more kids are geting injured on bikes lately.....thankfully the helmets are reducing head injuries, but other injuries are increasing.....could it be that the helmets are promoting more "risk-taking" due to the added feeling of "safety" provided?'nuf said?Like Mandatory Education, we in Boating Safety need to do more to convince people to WANT to wear PFDs, to WANT to take a boating course (and a complete course, not just a 4 hour intro.). I don't know how to do this, but there must be some way!One final comment, most States require all people on Personal Watercraft (ie: Jet Ski) to wear a PFD, and amazingly enough....the greatest majority of those people do wear one! What are they (Dealers? Media?, who?) doing to see this much success?80% of those who drown were not wearing PFDs, but 90% of those were "expert" swimmers! If we wear our PFDs, and encourage others to wear theirs, maybe, just maybe, we will remove the "need" for this misguided law.