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jrc · 05-18-2007, 02:57 PM

So if they are really doing a test this summer, what constitutes a successful test? If no boats are observed exceeeding the limit, is that a success or failure? If no boats are ticketed is that a success? If 100 boats are ticketed? A thousand?

If the judge throws out some or all of the tickets because the rule is somehow not proper? Or the areas are not marked well enough? Or radar isn't reliable enough? Are these successes or failures?

It's obvious that these successes or failures can be spun.

Imagine this line of thinking: The MP says that they couldn't issue many tickets because it was too hard to determine if the offending boat was in the speed zone or not. Conlusion: we must enlarge the the speed zone to the entire lake.

Imagine this: The MP says we didn't issue any tickets because we never observed a boat exceeding the speed limit. Conclusion: speed limits are effective because they kept the speeding boats off the lake. Make speed limits lakewide and permanent.

Or imagine the opposite facts: The MP says we issued 100 tickets to boats we observed breaking the speed limit. Conclusion: speed limits are effective but not strong enough. Make speed limits lakewide and permanent.

05-18-2007, 02:57 PM	#12
jrc Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: NH Posts: 2,689 Thanks: 33 Thanked 439 Times in 249 Posts	Success or Failure So if they are really doing a test this summer, what constitutes a successful test? If no boats are observed exceeeding the limit, is that a success or failure? If no boats are ticketed is that a success? If 100 boats are ticketed? A thousand? If the judge throws out some or all of the tickets because the rule is somehow not proper? Or the areas are not marked well enough? Or radar isn't reliable enough? Are these successes or failures? It's obvious that these successes or failures can be spun. Imagine this line of thinking: The MP says that they couldn't issue many tickets because it was too hard to determine if the offending boat was in the speed zone or not. Conlusion: we must enlarge the the speed zone to the entire lake. Imagine this: The MP says we didn't issue any tickets because we never observed a boat exceeding the speed limit. Conclusion: speed limits are effective because they kept the speeding boats off the lake. Make speed limits lakewide and permanent. Or imagine the opposite facts: The MP says we issued 100 tickets to boats we observed breaking the speed limit. Conclusion: speed limits are effective but not strong enough. Make speed limits lakewide and permanent.