It is regrettable that this law will inconvenience many responsible performance boaters.
It is also regrettable that the opposition chose a “no limit” position instead of working for a compromise. I hope that in two years an exception for the Broads can be written into the law. However if the opposition continues with “no limits”, they have already lost.
There will be no data collected in the next two years that will argue against HB847. A low, or zero, accident rate will indicate it is working. A high accident rate will indicate that even more restrictions are required. A no win scenario for the opposition. The argument that fewer restrictions will decrease accidents is counterintuitive. That is not the way politicians think.
The argument that this is feel good legislation that will change nothing has ALREADY been proven wrong. On this very forum we have heard that some performance boats have already left, and that more will be leaving. In another post a member has decided not to upgrade to a performance boat. These are the first proofs that HB847 has, and will, change the lake. It is doing exactly what it was intended to do, reduce performance boating on the lake.
More and more lakes are placing restrictions on performance boats. I do not wish Winnipesaukee to be the lake they migrate to.
Powerful arguments have been made for increased education and enforcement. Great ideas. But expensive ideas that will never be funded are useless ideas. Worse than useless when they divert attention away from methods that can be enacted for little or no money, like speed limits.
The lake will never go back to what it was years ago. But we can slow the proliferation of boats that are to big and to fast for a crowded lake. For decades the average boat length and horsepower have been increasing. This increases pollution and erosion and leads to an inequitable use of a limited public resource. A speed limit is the first step at reversing, or at least slowing, this trend.
|