Quote:
Originally Posted by DBreskin
Several members have posted for or against obeying the 150 ft rule. Some of those who don't think it's necessary argue that closer is OK as long as their boat is under control. I'd like to raise another perspective I haven't seen mentioned yet.
One of the reasons rules work is because people know and agree what the rules are. If there is a "150 ft" rule or a "come to a full stop at a stop sign" rule, when I see another operator in a situation where one of those rules applies I can expect to know how the other operator will behave.
At a four-way stop intersection, if a car arrives from another direction before me I will stop and let it go through the intersection before me. If I arrive first, I expect later arrivals to let me pass first.
If I see another boat on the water, I expect it will allow me 150 ft safe distance. If it comes closer than 150 ft at greater than headway speed, I assume the operator doesn't know the rules or doesn't care to follow them; in either case I am concerned for my safety. If they know the 150 ft rule and ignore it, who know what other rule they may also ignore?
As you may have guessed by now, I believe in following the 150 ft rule. I am also an out-of-state boater but come to NH 2 weeks a year.
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Hummm,,, Have people actually argued against obeying the rule???
I think people have questioned the validity of the concept that the 150’ rule will produce any significant overall improvement in boating safety.
Conversely, I think it is a well supported argument that you don’t need anywhere near 150’ of buffer to safely operate most boats at reasonable cruising speeds, boaters are doing it all over the world every day and the collision numbers just dont support the need for that much buffer in every situation.
So then regarding other viewpoints, how about the idea that the 150’ buffer may produce a less safe environment!
Your concept of safe operation where you make critical assumptions about how other boaters will respond
could be one of those situations.
Assuming too much about how other boats will respond to any situation can be very dangerous,,, Most especially when you consider the drastic differences in experiences any two boaters may have.
If you “trust, but verify” what others are doing and always stay actively on guard when operating a boat you will be far better off than arguing for hard and fast laws and then relying too heavily on the assumption that such rules will protect you.
None of what I have stated is advocating not obeying the rule!
If you choose not to obey the rule, you better be prepared to suffer the consequences.
Can I envision a situation where obeying the rule could be problematic?
Sure, anything that put my passengers at greater risk than having 150’ of buffer between me and anyone/thing else. I don’t think I’m going to abruptly haul my throttle back (or make any drastic maneuver to add distance between us) sending my passengers flying out of their seats just because we happened to come closer than 150’ to each other. I’m going to do my best to figure out how to safely get out of the situation in the most reasonable manner.
Does that constitute not obeying the rule, I guess that is a matter of perspective, but in my mind it does not equal advocating not obeying the rule. Your opinion may differ, but I sure hope not, it would be nice to know that we all agree that we need to follow the rules.
Its also be nice to know that we can reasonably debate the value of any rule without being combative with each other.
And finally, I hope that fact that we are all debating such matters means that we all put safety first and that means real world safety,
not paper rule safety,,,
Ok, I'm done,,,