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Gilligan · 04-26-2005, 09:00 AM

How do they enforce boating speed limits on those big lakes where it is claimed the limits work? What happens if the MP is following directly behind a target boat, can they get a good radar reading?

GPS can let the MP know how fast their patrol boat is going. If the target is pulling away from the MP then the officer must conclude that the target boat is going faster than MP boat. If said MP is going the speed limit then the target must be exceeding the limit.

Now the problem. How does the slower MP boat catch the go fast boat? They can't. They can try to radio another patrol boat and try to intercept the go fast boat but it rarely works. MP is not equipped to even chase errant jet skiers. Many of us have seen boating violators outdistancing MP boats with blue lights and sirens chasing them. There are too few MP. MP is too slow and the other boats are too fast.

I wonder if there is some speed that everyone would agree is too fast for the lake. Is 100 mph too fast or could that be a speed limit? Will we all be required to carry GPS interfaced transponders (like airplanes) so our boating direction and speed can be followed on a master screen?

04-26-2005, 09:00 AM	#8
Gilligan Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: The Bay State Posts: 119 Thanks: 8 Thanked 11 Times in 4 Posts	Faster than a speeding MP boat How do they enforce boating speed limits on those big lakes where it is claimed the limits work? What happens if the MP is following directly behind a target boat, can they get a good radar reading? GPS can let the MP know how fast their patrol boat is going. If the target is pulling away from the MP then the officer must conclude that the target boat is going faster than MP boat. If said MP is going the speed limit then the target must be exceeding the limit. Now the problem. How does the slower MP boat catch the go fast boat? They can't. They can try to radio another patrol boat and try to intercept the go fast boat but it rarely works. MP is not equipped to even chase errant jet skiers. Many of us have seen boating violators outdistancing MP boats with blue lights and sirens chasing them. There are too few MP. MP is too slow and the other boats are too fast. I wonder if there is some speed that everyone would agree is too fast for the lake. Is 100 mph too fast or could that be a speed limit? Will we all be required to carry GPS interfaced transponders (like airplanes) so our boating direction and speed can be followed on a master screen? __________________