Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Islander
...If HB162 had passed 5 years ago there is an excellent chance that the Littlefield boat would not have even been on the lake!...
|
Hmmmm,
So you predict that if speed limits had been enacted prior to the collision, the Littlefields would have immediately sold their performance boat...
OK
So I predict thay would have then replaced it with a 32 to 40 foot range Carver style behemoth cruiser.
Now place them in that same craft at 28 MPH and replay the same scenario. You still have the same horrific outcome.
When you sppend the day imbibing alcohol, the first part of your thought process that goes out the window is rationality . Regardless of the craft operated that night, technicalities like speed limits would have been the furthest from anyone in Littlefield's condition thoughts.
Littlefield had violated far more severe rules than a paltry three MPH over a theoretical speed limit. If he had simply given the keys to a sober adult, or found an alternative method to get home, tragedy would easily have been avoided.
I am continually amazed that there was such a muted protest raised about the concerns of drinking and driving. If ever an incident screamed for stronger enforcement and enhanced penalties of existing law, this crime made an excellent example.
And yet this crime has been hijacked as an example to enact new legislation for regulations that have been shown time & again, through well documented State & Federal boating accident statistics, to have a minimal impact on boating injuries & fatalities.
But that's what happens when laws are passed based on emotions & prejudices and not sound scientific & human principle.
But all is not lost. Since we are all doing "predictions" here, I figure that this bill, if enacted, will have a very short life span before modified heavily or thrown out completely. The bill was sold as a Winnipesaukee only solution, with the public hearings and the bulk of publicity held in the immediate Lakes region. Many other boaters in the State, led to believe that bill would not affect them (especially here on the inland coastal areas, where it appears the sailors here have a much better appreciation of existing ample regulation) will slowly awaken to the fact they were left out of the process and make their concerns known if and when the legislation proposed affects them.
Have to go and get that new snowmobile of mine ready for the upcoming season, but in a subsequent post I'll explain why this is really much ado about nothing....because most people will still go about their merry way after a short respite when they realize that just as very few people are ever stopped for speeding on our roadways (where enforcement can be much more enhanced and targeted) so to will it be on the waterways of New Hampshire!