Lt. Dunleavy, NHMP, responds....

[Mashugana]

Originally Posted by Skipper of the Sea Que

This quote from the Radar Thread

Where is it required that boaters have good vision? Why are you seemingly unconcerned about that?

As an extreme example of my point: What prevents a legally BLIND person from taking the helm of ANY recreational boat on Winnie? At 30 or 50 mph it really won't make much difference if they can't see well in the first place. Even if they see well enough to have a driver's license it may not be good enough in my opinion.

Interesting thoughts Skipper. How would a vision check be put in place? Eyesight testing does not seem practical.

You can put speed limits in place but you won't see vision tests as you have for driver's licenses. Speed limit proponents feel that their method is the most practical for that feel good feeling.

Originally Posted by Skipper of the sea que

the Captain of this cat did not see the boy or his OCEAN KAYAK less than 20' away!! Plus now I know what an Ocean Kayak looks like.

Sails can block vision but at sailing speed the kayaker could blow the whistle or yell to the catamaran to alert people to his position. That sail catamaran is lucky to get 10 mph so speed limits would not make any difference here.

How could you deal with any vision requirement for boaters?