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Originally Posted by Islander
Chase
There is one statistic you may have missed. Not long ago one of our Bear Island neighbors was killed by a high performance boat. That boat was going at a speed that will be illegal if HB162 is passed. For most island residents that is the only statistic we need.
I know that many will quibble and try to explain away or excuse this "statistic".
What about the "personal freedom" of the rest of us that don't need to go 90 MPH. Offshore boats and huge cabin cruisers were designed for the ocean, not 150' (or less) from our docks.
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I lost a friend this Summer because a woman made an illegal left turn in a Volvo and put the car directly in his path. He was not killed by a Volvo and no one is trying to ban Volvos from the highways, he was killed by an inattentive driver. Your neighbor was not killed by a boat but rather by the operator of the boat. I seriously doubt the operator of that boat, who so flagrantly flaunted other laws, would have been affected much by something as benign as a speed limit.
The guilty boat operator's incarceration is a vastly more appropriate response to the tragedy that took your neighbor than some law aimed at banning the brand and style boat he was operating. Maybe justice was not fully served in this case, but a speeding violation conviction on top of the other convictions would do absolutely nothing to the sentence and probably would not have even been pursued by the prosecutor.
Just to make it clear, I don't own a fast or loud boat, don't ever intend to, and find the noise many of them generate quite irritating. I do think the lake would be more peaceful and pleasant if the loud boats were to disappear. However, I will not ever support a law that aims to discriminate against folks for their taste in boats, or anything else that's legal to own. I also could not care less if someone wants to quietly and safely go very fast across the water. I honestly hope they are making memories that are as wonderful as the memories I've made on the lake. Those folks are not affecting your personal freedom at all.