Quote:
Originally Posted by Turtle Boy
Which is precisely why I have steadfastly refused to swim, fish, sail, or allow my family to go tubing on Rt 93.
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Guess you could always declare Winnipesaukee your personal playground, otherwise EVERYONE using the lake needs to exercise plenty of caution all the time. Just being in the water is dangerous, are we going to start assigning lifeguards to every swimmer?
Sorry but I don’t see how getting run over at 45 is any less painful than getting run over at 70.
And there are those who will argue that the difference in speed will allow more time to get out of the way or for the driver to steer around, but personally don’t buy either argument blindly.
If your swimming and a power boat is bearing down on you, sorry your not too likely to be able to get out of their way at any speed.
As for the driver of the boat being able to observe, react, and successfully avoid any particular problem at various speeds, well I think the answer is a legitimate “maybe”. If he sees the problem, if he responds appropriately, if, if, if,,,,
I’ll even go so far as to say that there are more inherent risks operating a boat at 70 vs 45, maybe a lot more.
But what most here seem to be arguing is that the people operating boats over 45 are the minority of Winnipesaukee boaters and are NOT the problem when referring to boating safety issues.
The common theme I see is bad drivers, and I fully agree.
Speed does not = bad driver and bad driver does not = speed.
Sure they can be equal, but most here seem to agree that’s not what we observe. It’s the inexperienced and inconsiderate/irresponsible operators who are the problem. And most of those knuckle heads boats barely go 45 let alone do 70. There are exceptions to everything, but I’m referring to the bulk of the knuckleheads that you see on any given Saturday during the summer who are driving like kids at a go-kart track.
I enjoy boating and swimming as much as the next guy and almost always do so with my young children. And the vast majority of the time I’m boating on Winnipesaukee I’m cruising the lake at 35 – 45 MPH, but I do enjoy a good blast when the conditions allow, and don’t feel that if done responsibly I should be called a felon or looked down upon as some evil person with no regard for life, property, or common sense.
Call me optimistic, but I have faith that most of my fellow boaters operate responsibly, otherwise I wouldn’t risk bringing my children to a lake that allowed powerboats, there are options. I just don’t see boats doing 70 next to the sandbar all day long. Sorry, that’s not my experience, and I would hope its not yours.
So in my mind the whole speed limit thing is just feel-good legislation that accomplishes nothing in the way of tangible safety improvements. Sorry it completely misses the mark in my opinion. And I for one don’t buy into the concept that a reduction of 1 accident every year (or every 5 years) that might be directly attributed to high speed operation is a reasonable tradeoff for the loss felt by every other boater.
Sorry, I’ve had enough of this topic for now, Over and Out,,,
