Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#20
posted to rec.boats
|
|||
|
|||
Yet Another Tragic Case......
On Nov 30, 7:35�pm, Larry wrote:
Chuck Gould wrote in news:0b23b105- : Then there's the old "it's my life, I'll risk it" BS. Unfortunately, society doesn't work that way. It does or we'd bust anyone's ass that was caught with beer or wine or other booze not sealed away in the trunk.....just like we do to CARS. We'd **** on the boat dealers' feet by making them all take a competency boat DRIVERS LICENSE test BEFORE we allowed them to drive off in a 55 ton Hatteras with 1500 HP diesels. �Just having money isn't a competency test, but that's all we got now. At least SOME of the drivers on the road don't do the really stupid things boaters do, like driving drunk on booze, for fear of losing that LICENSE TO DRIVE. �I know lots of boaters who drink and wouldn't do so if they lost that Boat Driver's License, or stood a chance of losing it... Of course, if we really cared, we'd say: NO PFD....NO BOATING But, a thousand yachties will come to that aid. Larry -- Isn't it ironic that the same ISPs that are telling you you're downloads threaten their networks...... ....are testing 100Gbps TV to sell on the SAME systems?http://tinyurl.com/27qx3v In my state, as in most others (over 40 states now) you are required to pass a basic boating knowledge test. The requirement applies to everybody by age group, and over the next few years the bracket expands to include everybody born after 1955. We old geezers literally get "grandfathered" in. :-) A new boat buyer has 90 days, by law, to complete the education course. Yes, one could argue "But look at all the damage that guy could do in 90 days!" The tests are probably so simple that they are almost meaningless. You can take one "on-line", and I can't imagine what would prevent you from simply swtiching back and forth between the test page and some page with answers on it, or looking everything up in Chapman's as you go. The downside of that is that Boobus Americanus and his two brothers may decide, "Well, that's all we will ever have to know about boating safety. We met all the qualifications. Didn't take two long, either. What do you say we take the runabout and a couple of cases of beer out to that island in the middle of the lake?" The biggest controlling factor discouraging unqualified operators isn't actually a law at all. It's the free enterprise system. Most people purchasing a large boat like you use in your example will either be financing a portion of it (which will require insurance), or if they have been smart, thrifty, and lucky enough to arrange their personal finanaces to allow them to pay cash they are likely to have other and substantial assets that they will want to protect by insuring the boat. Can't say about where you live, but around here the insurance companies get pretty restrictive with first time operators buying a big boat, or even a case where somebody steps up from a 22-footer to a 48. The insurance companies typically issue only a temporary, conditional binder that can be converted to a permanent policy only *after* the new owner gets professional instruction from a licensed master and (if he or she has never done so) completes a USCGA or USPS class. The neophyte who buys that 50-foot yacht will need to have a licensed captain aboard for his first few cruises, at least if he expects to have insurance in place. |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Tragic and Difficult Boating Lesson... | General | |||
Tragic and Difficult Boating Lesson... | General | |||
local tragic news | ASA |