Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
On 5 Oct 2005 17:00:15 -0700, "Ed Stasiak" wrote:

I know this has been suggested in the past and sure,
they're only talking about commercial boats right now,
but how long till the "do-gooders" use this accident to
demand that anybody on _any_ boat be forced to wear a
life jacket at all times?

I think it's a great idea and should be an enforceable protocol for
marine law enforcement.

I would agree but only up to a point.
Certain craft,(such as small, open, runabouts), are greater risks than
others. Should everybody gathered around the dinner table on a
40-footer be wearing a life jacket? Probably not.

In our state, kids under 12 are required to be in life jackets on any
boat less than 19-feet in length. That's not a bad law, because the
kids lack the experience and judgment to make an informed decision to
accept the greater risk associated with doing without a PFD.
It gets a bit sticky when one tries to be philosophical about whether a
parent has the "right" to deliberately expose a kid to additional risk-
so I like the law in our state.

Certain situations, such as single handing, call for PFD as well. I
wear an inflatable pfd when I take our 36-footer out by myself. To me,
it only makes sense to do so. I don't plan on falling overboard (and
99% of the people who do fall overboard don't plan on it, either), but
if I'm by myself and fall in nobody is going to hear me holler for help
or notice that I'm gone.