MP claim high level of voluntary compliance with speed limit

[Bear Islander]

Marine Patrol provides data on big lake speed tickets
By Michael Kitch

Aug 18, 2011 12:00 am

GILFORD - Lieutenant Tim Dunleavy of the New Hampshire Marine Patrol said
yesterday that enforcement of the law limiting boat speeds on Lake
Winnipesaukee to 45 mph. in daylight and 30 mph. after dark has brought no
surprises. "What we're seeing is consistent with the data we collected
before the law was enacted and enforced," he said.
Dunleavy said that through the month of July, Marine Patrol officers made 21
stops for excessive speed and issued six tickets and 15 warnings. Only five
of the stops were made at night, leaving 16 made in the daytime. One
particular 50-foot performance boat, like those featured on "Miami Vice,"
was stopped four times for excessive speed, representing a quarter of all
the daytime stops.
Three personal watercraft, better known as jet-skis, and a jet boat
manufactured by Sea-Doo, all less than 20 feet in length, accounted for four
stops. There were four stops of vessels between 21-feet and 25-feet in
length, five of vessels between 26-feet and 30-feet in length and four of
vessels between 31-feet and 35-feet in length.
Dunleavy said that contrary to the recent assertions by a reader of The
Laconia Daily Sun, made in correspondence to the newspaper, that Marine
Patrol has limited its enforcement efforts to large performance boats, the
data indicates that officers have stopped vessels of all sizes traveling at
excessive speeds. "People on shore often don't know why an officer stops a
particular boat," he said. He explained that officers may come along aside
in response to requests for assistance or direction as well as to cite the
helmsman for an infraction, which may or may not involve excessive speed.
The data, Dunleavy suggested, reveals little about the impact of imposing
the speed limits. Repeating that the results mirrored those found before the
law was enacted, he said that "it is really had to say whether the law has
had a significant impact" and noted that other factors, including fuel
prices, the economy and the weather, may affect the volume and speed of boat
traffic. Dunleavy did allow that the relatively small number of stops
indicated a high level voluntary compliance with the speed limits.