DSK wrote:
wrote:
What is the downside of this? I'm all for it.
Well, sure. You're already stuck having to take classs and
get a license.
.... Us PWC'ers have been the first segment of boating to be
subject to mandatory education requirements over the last five or six
years or so, we have been all for it from the beginning,
Not all PWCers are "all for it"
Well, the pwc'ing COMMUNITY at large is all for it and has been ever
since I"ve been a part of that community for that last nine years or
so. PWC rights advocacy groups and IMO all of us more responsible,
informed, thinking riders, have advocated and supported, mandatory
education and certification, for ALL boaters as long as I've been
involved, and it seems like an excellent idea to me.
and there are still a lot of
jetski drivers who operate their boats dangerously &
offensively.
Yes, and operators of other size and shape power boats too. That is
why it seems look a great idea to try to guarantee that anyone driving
one has at least been instructed in the basics.
Some do it even after taking classes & getting
licensed, seems like they consider it part of the fun.
The reason why PWC's were the first to be regulated & to
have a license required was due to the large number of
incidents wherein PWC drivers injured others. Injuring
yourself is not the state's business IMHO.
I don't follow your thinking at all. Power boaters with bigger boats
than pwc's can certainly do lots of damage to others and the properties
of others as well as to themselves, and often do. (And to their
families and passengers.)
.... it seems to me that it would suggest
that it's not really any additional burden for sailors because they're
probably getting educated and trained before they hit the water anyway.
Yeah, let's just go ahead and have the gov't burden them
with classes & licensing req'ments etc etc, after all they
can't possibly harm anybody else at 5 knots.
I don't really see what the big burden is. The class is 8 hours and
free, here in New York State anyway.
And you don't
want people to get the idea that it's a free country.
I don't know that the "it's a free country" platitude dissuades me from
thinking that this is a good idea, especially when you look at accident
and injury statistics in states that have done it already. I guess
you're not in favor of automobile licensing either? After all, I
suppose, it's anyone's free choice to get onto a crowded road they know
is populated by tons of dangerous uneucated maniacs.....every man for
himself, why would the government have any interest in stepping on my
freedom by insisting that I learn to drive and get tested before I get
behind the wheel? I guess I must be some kind of communist.
Sounds to me like some people just think they're too good to take the
course and just don't want to be bothered...tough.
richforman