Quote:
By GREAT IDEA
I had a guy go by me in narrow channel YESTERDAY at 60 plus within 40-50 ft of my boat near Bear and he and his buddy weren't even looking up or forward. They passed between mine and another boat while fiddling with something on or under the dash. Never even saw us or if they did they didn't much care.
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Great Idea….
You don’t see the problem with your story do you? Let us assume for the sake of argument you were at headway speed, minding your own business. Let us also assume for arguments sake, that you are correct in that the offending boat passed by you within 40-50ft at 60+ mph. Here where it gets sticky…
Question: How would a speed limit have changed your story?
Answer: It would not. It really doesn’t matter how fast the offending boat was traveling, he violated the 150’ rule. If the offending boat was on plane within 150’ of you then it really doesn’t matter how fast he was going. He broke the rule!
Question: What would have happened if a MP officer had witnessed this event?
Answer: The offending boat should have been pulled over and cited for violating the 150’ rule as well as reckless operation because the operator was not keeping a proper lookout. (You stated: “They passed between mine and another boat while fiddling with something on or under the dash”)
Question: What would have happened if a MP officer had witnessed this event and there was a speed limit?
Answer: The offending boat should have been pulled over and cited for violating the 150’ rule as well as reckless operation because the operator was not keeping a proper lookout. However, unless the MP boat was in the perfect position to radar the offending boat there is no way to accurately tell how fast the offender was traveling. More than likely a speeding citation would not have been issued, and if it was, it would be easily defeated in a court of law.
Question: What would have helped prevent this situation?
Answer: Better boater education, (so that maybe the offending operator would be more vigilant while operating his boat) more Full Time MP Officers to provide better coverage & enforcement of existing rules on the lake.
How would a speed limit mattered in this case? It didn’t. We also know that even with specialized training the MP officers receive, distance is hard to judge on water, so is speed. Your story Great Idea is unfortunately full of holes when it comes to demonstrating the need for a speed limit. It does work really well however for demonstrating the need for more full time MP officers around the lake.
Woodsy