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PROPELLER · 04-26-2005, 12:38 PM

I will apologize in advance for the length of this post. However, I think it is important to understand why the speed limit supporters feel it is necessary.

First, I would like to know if there are any statistics that are specific to Winnipesaukee detailing the number of accidents involving more than 1 boat in the last 1, 2, 5, 10 years etc and if there are how many involved serious injury, property damage or both & how serious the injuries or damage was. If these are available is there any information explaining how fast the boats were traveling at impact etc. I am asking about this because to me this is what should be used to support or not support a speed limit. I am also asking because in my observations while on the lake and in following the news I am only familiar with 1 tragic accident on a summer evening in Meredith that falls into this category & by all accounts the offending boat did not appear to be exceeding any of the proposed speed limits. Other than this 1 accident the only other incidents I hear about with any frequency at all are ones like a canoe capsized or I recall a couple summers ago that some one fell off a pontoon boat in the evening of off Diamond Island.

If these kind of statistics can not be produced then the speed limit supporters are in favor of HB162 for some other reason or reasons. At this point, I can only speculate. Lets take a stab at it. They do not feel safe when out on the lake because they perceive that too many boats are going well in excess of 45 mph. First, what some one thinks a boats speed is & what it really is could be 2 different speeds. Secondly, because the vast majority of boats on Winni are not capable of exceeding 50 mph, many are not capable of exceeding 40-45 mph how could it be true that too many boats are traveling well in excess of 45 mph? Lastly, even with some boats exceeding this proposed 45 mph limit, what evidence is there that this is not safe? I'm not hearing about collisions at high speeds & if they were happening believe me you would hear about it. It would be big news just like the tragedy in Meredith. I'm not hearing about collisions at low speeds either.

Next possible reason, too many boats? although I do not believe Winni is too crowded yet, in my opinion. This is a moot point since being too crowded has nothing to do with speed.

There is another reason. The speed limit supporters have alluded to the fact that high performance boats make too much noise. There is a noise ordinance or illegal db level but apparently they are not happy with this ordinance. I will speculate on this, because they are not happy with the noise ordinance they think that if they can pass a speed limit that will make high performance boat owners so unhappy that they will not frequent Winni, this will solve their noise problem. Again, this is a moot point since this is not speed related because even at 45 mph the noise is more than the speed limit supporters can bear & apparently they are not interested in supporting a different noise law that may solve this problem.

There is one other possible reason that I have stated in previous posts. Some, not all, just don't like high performance boats for no specific reason, just don't like them & would rather see them go somewhere else. Again this is not related to speed but a speed limit appears to be the only way to possibly rid the lake of these kinds of boats.

So where does this leave us? Unless there are the statistics that I referenced earlier in the post, we are left people that support a speed limit because they perceive that they are not safe(without statistics to support them), too many boats, which is not a speed related issue & is a perception or opinion not a proven fact, too much noise which is already regulated but not to their satisfaction & also not related to speed, don't like high performance boats, again not related to speed but maybe the only way to get rid of these boats.

This post is not meant to chastise speed limit supporters. I am just trying to understand where they are coming from. If these reasons I have discussed here are why they are in support of HB162, I understand them but I do not agree that they should be used by legislators as a basis for passing HB162. Statistics showing that speed in excess of 45 mph is causing too many collisions with property damage & injuries is what the legislators should be demanding before they consider passing HB162.

04-26-2005, 12:38 PM	#13
PROPELLER Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 340 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Reason for speed limit I will apologize in advance for the length of this post. However, I think it is important to understand why the speed limit supporters feel it is necessary. First, I would like to know if there are any statistics that are specific to Winnipesaukee detailing the number of accidents involving more than 1 boat in the last 1, 2, 5, 10 years etc and if there are how many involved serious injury, property damage or both & how serious the injuries or damage was. If these are available is there any information explaining how fast the boats were traveling at impact etc. I am asking about this because to me this is what should be used to support or not support a speed limit. I am also asking because in my observations while on the lake and in following the news I am only familiar with 1 tragic accident on a summer evening in Meredith that falls into this category & by all accounts the offending boat did not appear to be exceeding any of the proposed speed limits. Other than this 1 accident the only other incidents I hear about with any frequency at all are ones like a canoe capsized or I recall a couple summers ago that some one fell off a pontoon boat in the evening of off Diamond Island. If these kind of statistics can not be produced then the speed limit supporters are in favor of HB162 for some other reason or reasons. At this point, I can only speculate. Lets take a stab at it. They do not feel safe when out on the lake because they perceive that too many boats are going well in excess of 45 mph. First, what some one thinks a boats speed is & what it really is could be 2 different speeds. Secondly, because the vast majority of boats on Winni are not capable of exceeding 50 mph, many are not capable of exceeding 40-45 mph how could it be true that too many boats are traveling well in excess of 45 mph? Lastly, even with some boats exceeding this proposed 45 mph limit, what evidence is there that this is not safe? I'm not hearing about collisions at high speeds & if they were happening believe me you would hear about it. It would be big news just like the tragedy in Meredith. I'm not hearing about collisions at low speeds either. Next possible reason, too many boats? although I do not believe Winni is too crowded yet, in my opinion. This is a moot point since being too crowded has nothing to do with speed. There is another reason. The speed limit supporters have alluded to the fact that high performance boats make too much noise. There is a noise ordinance or illegal db level but apparently they are not happy with this ordinance. I will speculate on this, because they are not happy with the noise ordinance they think that if they can pass a speed limit that will make high performance boat owners so unhappy that they will not frequent Winni, this will solve their noise problem. Again, this is a moot point since this is not speed related because even at 45 mph the noise is more than the speed limit supporters can bear & apparently they are not interested in supporting a different noise law that may solve this problem. There is one other possible reason that I have stated in previous posts. Some, not all, just don't like high performance boats for no specific reason, just don't like them & would rather see them go somewhere else. Again this is not related to speed but a speed limit appears to be the only way to possibly rid the lake of these kinds of boats. So where does this leave us? Unless there are the statistics that I referenced earlier in the post, we are left people that support a speed limit because they perceive that they are not safe(without statistics to support them), too many boats, which is not a speed related issue & is a perception or opinion not a proven fact, too much noise which is already regulated but not to their satisfaction & also not related to speed, don't like high performance boats, again not related to speed but maybe the only way to get rid of these boats. This post is not meant to chastise speed limit supporters. I am just trying to understand where they are coming from. If these reasons I have discussed here are why they are in support of HB162, I understand them but I do not agree that they should be used by legislators as a basis for passing HB162. Statistics showing that speed in excess of 45 mph is causing too many collisions with property damage & injuries is what the legislators should be demanding before they consider passing HB162.