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Old 08-30-2010, 09:46 AM   #94
VtSteve
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan View Post
What we keep overlooking here is there was never a speed problem in Skip's town. The speed bumps, for all intents and purposes, are not necessary and pointless.

The neighbor and town, in general, would have been better served having Skip hang out in front of his neighbor's driveway in his cruiser enforcing the traffic in their area.

Get it?
You're correct Ryan, something that should always be at the forefront.

Like most active waterways, Winni has a problem with congestion on weekends, problem boaters, and inexperienced boaters. But even the most experienced skipper has been shown to make a mistake or two.

So while everyone's got a slightly different take on the issues and remedies, there are two main sides taken on the issues(s).

1) There is a general lack of enforcement due to a variety of reasons. The primary reason is the MP budget is simply not enough to provide for enforcement of existing laws. Many here, myself included, think that the lake would be far better served by enforcing the existing laws, and be given the power they need to make the real problem boaters go away.

2) The other side generally thinks that over time, more and more laws and restrictions will be put in place. They view this as progress, since it will have the same impact as "Traffic Calming", a buzzterm developed when people want things to move more slowly.

I might have missed someone here, and it would be easy to do amongst thousands of posts. But In General, I have not heard any support from Side #2 for beefing up the MP, and getting the Legislature to realize what the issues are. Some even admit flat out, that safety is not their concern when proposing these laws. It "might" be a side benefit, but their primary impetus is to, gradually, transform the lake from it's current state of boating, into a more restricted lake where HP boaters, large cruisers,and possibly many other people and boats I haven't thought about, vanish over time.

This is the same type of plan that many areas have successfully implemented on small bodies of water. Small lakes, ponds, reservoirs, etc...I agree with that type of planning. Winni is quite a bit different, in that it's far larger than many of these restricted areas.

But getting back to enforcement and common sense. Is it not more prudent to take a look at existing regulations, and match them up to today's issues? It is the utter irony to have Side#2 point out the need for more laws, because people are breaking existing laws. I can only surmise that they think a ton of regulations and restrictions would eventually make many of their least favorite people/boats go away. That's BI's answer to the lake's problems.

But the issues will remain. Many of the problem boaters are not even in the sights of the restrictions he, and others, propose. With a HP limit, existing speed limit, and whatever else they can think of, you'll still have a problem with boats from 18' and up going the speed limit or well under, endangering other boaters due to arrogance, drinking, inexperience, or a combination of all three.

Bottom line, I don't think any of their proposals match up with any of the issues or problems.

BI basically says So What?

Skip says to avoid any talk of safety issues at all, because the lawmakers and do-gooders will simply come up with more laws and more restrictions, because they aren't smart enough to do anything else.

But he rightfully points out, that this shows people how stupid laws and useless regulations come about in the first place.

Doesn't anyone else see how ridiculous this has become, and that there really are things you can do about it?
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