....to the reader, the crime being discussed here actually occurred on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. Florida was mentioned in one of the articles I read to discover the relevance of this cited case and while its no excuse (since most of the examples cited by the original poster stem from Florida) my mind made suffered a fatal "brain cramp" on location!
APS: Not Florida. Perhaps a closer read of the reference material is in order.
You are absolutely correct to scold me for this.....and I again apologize for the error.
APS: Did I forget to mention that the night before he had run his boat at full speed through a "Sobriety Checkpoint" that the lake residents had requested? (Evading it -- and the MPs?)]
Ah, but now being duly reminded to be more careful in my research, I once again return the favor to you. The offense you cite occurred
more than a year earlier on the previous Fourth of July. And while it makes no difference to the gravity of the offense, the significant difference in time deflates the hyperbole of your example. See, we all make mistakes now, don't we? The question is, do we learn (or acknowledge) from our mistakes?
APS: Without a speed limit law, there would be no legal "excess speed" provision -- just like New Hampshire stands today.
It was after Littlefield that we got a boating hit-and-run provision -- not before. Seems like it takes tragedies for New Hampshire to "catch up". For example, a child "under the supervision of an adult" can operate a speedboat, even if the adult is snockered.
It is hard to reply to this paragraph, as the first part of it makes no sense. I will say that certain laws were addressed after the Littlefield crime. I don't blame it on negligence by the State or playing "catch up". I do believe that in contrast to your incessant claims that the sky is continuially falling the actual truth of the matter is the events that occurred were so rare for the State to deal with, it had not become as issue until then. We already have a significant amount of regulation in our lives, many believe too much. I can't even imagine what a criminal code would look like if it was pssible (or even desirable) to attach a State sanctioned penalty to every possible negative outcome in life! Perhaps that's why we have a State legislature that meeets and passes or reforms laws annually? Finally, I will not go in to the child operator issue, that is another thread and another topic, and suffice to say there are ample provisions in New Hampshire's RSAs to cover that contingency, despite your claim (and yet reference again to other States and other websites) to the contrary.
APS: The only thing keeping him from getting behind the wheel was his back pain. His "Need for Speed" took him to the medicine cabinet and the liquor cabinet before boating.
In my humble opinion that is an outrageous statement for you to make. But it is a fine example of emotional rhetoric that cheapens the intelligent debate many others are trying to have using Don's courtesy.
APS: BTW: Naprosyn (Naproxen) is an over-the-counter substitute for aspirin. There are no alcohol or sleep precautions on my container of Naprosyn.
I will remind you that every bottle carries a waning that usage can cause drowsiness or dizziness and comes with a specific warning about operating machinery. So, if you take a medicine that can cause drowsiness or dizziness and then consume alcohol (that will cause drowziness and dizziness) do you believe that two negatives can possibly cancel themselves out? Since the State of Virginia seems so concerned about the mixing of these items in the offenders blood, I'll leave that concern to their experts. I would only hope that you are not dismissing the mixing of these two chemicals as dangerous for that would be a tremendous and possibly fatal (as we have seen in the case
you cited) diservice to the reader!
I could go on and attempt to match you in verbosity, but it does nothing to further the debate on this issue.
In closing it remains my opinion that your out of state example, given the elements of the crime, is not germane to the issue at hand and your assumptions surrounding the incident remain insensitive to the victims in this crime.
Merry Christmas,
Skip