Closing the Speed Limit Forum

[webmaster]

Actually, the only thing I can say to end any of the arguments here is simple:

....Don, please suspend the speed limit threads indefinitely....

I have received many similar requests. Can anyone make a good case why this train wreck known as the Speed Limit Forum should be kept open? This issue is settled for now. No amount of bickering will change that. It is beyond me what the members who continue to bicker and attack each other endlessly here think they are accomplishing. I'll be honest, the way some of you on both sides have abused this forum is disgusting and discouraging.

The result is that the entire Winnipesaukee Forum, created to provide a friendly and helpful place to get Lake information, has been poisoned. The nastiness is now spreading to other areas of the forum. Almost no thread escapes as questions and comments are picked apart, criticised and hijacked. When I try to control it I am criticised and attacked.

I now often wonder if all the time I spend maintaining the Winnipesaukee Forum is worth it. Running this site takes a tremendous amount of my time and is a 365 day a year commitment. Although there is still a lot of great information posted the overall impression that it is a nasty and unfriendly place is growing. Many, many regular members are now staying away and many of the new members that we attract are insurgents who just add to the problem. I know that several regular posters here don't even boat here. You are just here to put down any opposing points of view at any cost.

When HB-162 was settled in 2006 I shut down the speed limit discussions and allowed a single closing comment for each participant. The result was this thread which I think is the best thread ever in this area. Members were forced to give a single, well thought out statement of their opinion without attacking others. I think visitors could easily read those opinions and decide who they agreed with, without sifting through all the nonsense.

Unless someone can convince me that this current format is productive, I will close all threads when I return from vacation on 8/17. I will allow a final thread where everyone can make one final statement. I will aggressively moderate the thread and remove any attacks on others or multiple posts. That thread will remain open until I feel everyone has had a chance to post a closing comment.

After this area is closed I will have to watch the Boating area closely to ensure that the speed limit bickering does not infect those threads. A notice will be posted and I will immediately remove any speed limit comments. I believe that is the only way to return this forum to its intended purpose.

Since HB-847 will expire at the end of the 2010 season reopening the topic at some time may be justified.