Quote:
Originally Posted by Neanderthal Thunder
jrc wrote:
Weren't you surprised to see in the transcript that Skip provided, that a police officer saw Littlefield's condition on land? Nothing happened.
Even roadblocks were found legal under the 4th Amendment by the US Supreme Court. A Winni stop could be intended for a written warning, while allowing the officer to observe the boater's ability to function.
To a layperson, this thread's defense of a drunk boater by overserving, not on plane, 3 mph, etc., makes the speed limit appear to be more urgently needed, not less. Few drunk arrests are recorded on NH waters statewide, much less Winni. Even the most famous Winni drunk doesn't have a BWI on his rap sheet. A night speed limit gives law enforcement the only tool in the drawer against overserved, or just plain drunk, Winni boaters.
It was a drunk who decided that 28 mph was the speed that served his needs that night. Now we've decided that the boating drunks who think their going slow shouldn't be in charge of making those decisions. Drivers who aren't thinking at all, in the case of Long Lake, definately won't be trailering to a lake with a night speed limit.
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Drunks don't obey laws, otherwise they'd not be operating while drunk.
Nobody, but nobody, has ever defended the drunk.
The Drunk hit a boat while going 28 mph. What if he had been going 20 mph, or even the hallowed 25 mph? Would that make you feel better? How would enforcement, given the facts stated in this case, been able to prevent this?
The real culprits in that case were on land. A police officer of all folks, and all of the witnesses that testified to his condition.
I think we should have laws on the water to prohibit operating while drunk, and to prohibit hitting another boat.
Oh, wait, it's already illegal to operate while drunk, and the 150' distance limit should eliminate all accidents above headway speed. Why is it they don't? Why didn't the marine patrol issue a ticket for the guy being so close to the boat he hit?
Why don't all the proponents of the bill go back to the truth, which has been mentioned maybe twice on here.
1) You want to discourage the GFBL boats from being on the lake.
2) You "think" the lake would be better, safer, quieter, less congested.
3) You have no idea how to get additional enforcement dollars, and hope like heck the boaters obeying the speed limit don't break every other rule in the book, like many do now.
4) Most everything else you stated is pure rubbish.