Ski Man...
Before you go off the deep end about people from other states trying to influence laws here in NH... one should check the residency of alot of the PRO HB-162 supporters... they are not all NH citizens...
Island Lover...
Talk about spin... of the 39 deaths... 20 were in human powered craft! I am not seeing you guys push SAFETY legislation that would require all people using canoes and kayaks to wear a life preserver.... even though that would be a STATISTICALLY PROVEN way to improve safety on Lake Winnipesaukee!
Of the 19 deaths that occurred in powerboats, If you don't count NY & NJ, (only because the USCG district divides those states) in 2004 there were 500,052 registered powerboats in New England.
ME - 94,582
NH - 101,626
MA - 150,683
RI - 43,671
CT - 111,992
VT - 32,498
Total: 535,052
If you divide 19 deaths/535,052 boats (we know this number is greater because we didn't include NY & NJ) you get .0000355
Roughly 3.55 deaths per 100,000 registered boats. If you included a partial tally of the boats registered in NY & NJ, the actual number would probably drop to around 3 deaths per 100,000 registered boats. Either way, the numbers are way below the national average of 5.8 deaths per 100,000 registered boats as reported by the U.S. Coast Guard in the 2004 report.
That is a signifigant improvement... almost 50%!!
You will NEVER get to ZERO when dealing with machinery operated by man. While it is a noble goal, it is statistically impossible.
Woodsy
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