BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Bill to ban "teak surfing" introduced in WA State

"Reggie Smithers" wrote in message
. ..
wrote:
Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
On 26 Jan 2006 07:48:05 -0800, wrote:

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
On 25 Jan 2006 19:16:40 -0800, wrote:

Senator Pam Roach has sponsored Senate Bill 6364 to ban "teak
surfing".
She was prompted by one of her constituent organizations, the East
Pierce County Fire and Rescue. This agency had dealt with two tragic
deaths on Lake Tapps due to teak surfing.
oh for petes sake - another do-gooder who wants to save people from
themselves.

do they seriously think a law is going to stop this type of activity?
ill bet there is a fine attached to this - just another revenue raiser
for the state.

another useless piece of legislation.
Actually, not just "another piece of useless legislation" designed to
generate fines.

Right now, if a cop sees some 16 year old kid running a boat while some
14 or 15 year old
is teak surfing, about all the cop can do is pull them over and give
them a lecture about safety. Of course once the cop is out of sight,
the allure of teak surfing is immediately tripled, because not only is
it some sort of fun, but now it's also borderline dangerous *and* it
****es off the cops.

If there's a law, the cops can go as far as arresting the operator, if
need be, to see that the teak surfing stops.

There's a difference between being mentally defective ("should be
removed from the gene pool") and uninformed. A lot of teak surfers are
probably kids who don't ordinarily spend a lot of time around boats,
and when "all" their friends are doing it they just assume it's a
normal activity.

Here's hoping you never answer a knock on your door to learn that a kid
or a grandkid was killed while doing something others would consider
"stupid". My bet is that the last thought to cross your mind would be,
"Oh, well. If they were that stupid they didn't deserve to live in the
first place and it's a good thing they died before they could
reproduce."

We're talking actual lives here, not some abstract talk show platitude.
there are laws against drink operating - less than 10% of people
operating a boat drunk are caught. there are laws concerning the
operation of boats by those under 16 - i can't tell you how many 12 to
16 yo kids i see on pwcs and pwc type boats operating in state parks
of all things - theres a law against that too. oh, lets talk about
operating with kids aboard w/o life preservers - theres a law about
that i think.

its still saving people from themselves. whats next - no bungee
jumping? sky diving? snowboarding? soccer? baseball? people get
seriously injured in those sports all the time - in particular soccer
where serious knee/ankle and head injuries occur on a regular basis.

bungee jumping, sky diving, snowboarding, soccer, baseball etc are all
ordinarily survivable.

sucking in CO fumes almost directly from the exhaust port usuallly is
not.

it is what it is chuck - just another grandstand play by some small
time politician making a name for themselves under the guise of public
safety.

its bull**** of the first order and just another way to produce
revenue along the way.

Chuck,
The reason teak surfing is popular is very few people who do it are killed
or end up in the hospital. If 25% - 50% of the people who teak surfed
died, it would no longer be popular.

Yes there are some who do die or go to the hospital, but the vast majority
survive, and if the CO damages brain cells, they are too stupid to realize
it.

I really don't care if they make it illegal, but any parent who owned a
boat and did not let the kids know the danger is just as dumb as the kids.
Drugs are illegal and they are still used and abused.

I for one wished they would legalize all drugs. All illegal drugs do is
create a very profitable business for criminals, force drug users to
commit crimes to support their expensive habits and divert police
resources to fight a war we will never win. It didn't work for alcohol,
it isn't working for drugs.

It also make for a bigger class of criminals, once convicted, the guvmint
gets more and more control over you.

Making Teak Surfing illegal will not eliminate teak surfing anymore than
making drugs illegal eliminated drug abuse.
--
Reggie
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That's my story and I am sticking to it.

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