Lt. Dunleavy, NHMP, responds....

Bear Islander · 02-10-2008, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakegeezer

OK BI, here is some spin, per your request. Excessive speed does not mean exceeding 45. The last time I dinged my prop, excessive speed was the cause. I was going 6 when I should have been going 2. Then I could have stopped in time when my look-out saw the rock.

What is your motivation for pushing for a speed-limit rather than against excessive speed? Safe boating demands that speed be related to conditions of the weather, water and traffic. When you use the term "excessive speed" to justify a speed limit, that is spinning the report in an unjustified way. Speed is already regulated in the careless/reckless rules, and that is no spin. Defining 45+ as careless/reckless is what the fight is about. 45 can be too fast - but so can 6.

I am pushing for HB847 because it is better than the nothing we have now. Just saying excessive speed leaves things to open to interpretation. Every ticket would have to be a huge argument. Why not use excessive speed as the limit on route 93? Because it will not work, that's why.

Hazelnut -

Limiting it to one lake creates to small a statistical universe. Why does the double fatality on Long Lake last summer not apply? If you want to exclude that accident you should tell me why it could not have happened on Winni.

Why stop at limiting it to Winni. Someone in Winter Harbor might argue that there has never been a serious accident in Winter Harbor, therefore it should have no speed limit. But WH is not a good example I guess since there was a fatal boating accident there last summer.

BTW HB847 applies to all the lakes in NH. The attached amendment the opposition wanted fixes it to Winni only. The Senate can pass HB847 and NOT the amendment if they choose.

Back to my limitations. There are still two questions open. You can't just say "involve speed", I didn't just fall off a turnip truck! What speed? 45/25? And how do we know what the speed of the boats actually were. Otherwise you will wiggle out with the "please prove the boat was going 90 mph exactly" crap. If a report, newspaper article etc says about XX mph, is that good enough?