"News f2s" wrote

Leave it to the insurers if they want to give discounts to people
who've taken courses or got qualifications.

Any legs in this as a method of policing behavior?

Long legs, very long legs. The insurers now basically have taken over
from the FAA policing pilot proficiency and safety. The FAA still
does the annoying, Mickey mouse, and useless stuff while the insurance
companies determine who gets to fly.

Believe it. We don't want it to come to this in boating. Despite
being a very cautious and excellent (according to everyone else with a
license who has flown with me) pilot, I am now an ex. pilot because of
the insurance climate. Run away insurance could kill boating as
surely as it has killed some branches of medicine and is strangling
aviation.

It's the eternal problem of society, the alternatives to people acting
responsibly and with care for those around them are always ugly and
burdensome, at least those that government is capable of envisioning.
Usually the attempts to curb irresponsible behavior end up costing the
responsible and considerate lots of money, freedom, convenience, and
enjoyment while the irresponsible carry on just as before.

Classic example: City reacts to a few bad incidents in a public park
by closing it at sundown. Now, without large number of law abiding
citizens to set the ambiance, report problems, and just out number the
bad apples, it becomes a jungle of addicts and muggers. City puts in
more police and diverts money from landscaping , taxes go up, real
estate values around it go down, people move out. All this happens
because the city feels that it has to appear to be reacting to a few
well publicized problems that can take place anywhere. Pretty soon,
no one is enjoying the park except the muggers and addicts and there
are even more of them because the city provided them with territory.

--

Roger Long