Here's my take on the poll results. There are roughly 100,000 boats registered in NH. Let's be generous and say that 80% of those boats are owned by NH residents. I think there are around 800,000 registered voters so, to make the math easier (for me), I'll assume that 1 in 10 voters own a boat.
If I didn't boat, and knew nothing about boating laws, boater education, enforecement, etc., I'd probably say why not to speed limits, we have them on the roads (not realizing that there are great differences bewteen cars and boats - line of sight, operating 5 feet away from another vehicle, etc.).
Basically, I'd bet that the majority of people being polled have not educated themselves on the issue, and if they don't boat, I can understand that.
That being said, I'm not surprised by the results. I think our senate will apply more stringent standards and a more deeper understanding of the issue when they review HB162. That's why we elected them.
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