Vinny P

To add insult to injury, have youy guys heard of this idiot. I was shocked ( well I shouldnt be anymore ) when I saw the local news here the other day. Lately I think we here on Long Island are manufacturing idiots. Again, I have to ask where we the parents of all these kids???

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...and&id=8765142

f_inscreenname

Now what would common sense say?
Maybe, the operator was an idiot for having 27 people on a 34' boat.

ajrdonzi18

Thank god; after hearing this on the evening news, I was wondering if there were any sane, level headed human beings left alive on planet earth! You guys have restored a little faith in me; key word "little". God forbid anyone takes responsibility for their actions anymore!

dereknkathy

right next to the steering wheel on ALL boats, there is a big eass to read plate that says "maximum capacity x number of persons or x number of pounds". it IS required by law, and i am pretty sure silverton's placard doesn't say 27 people or 4000+ lbs. especially when a whole lot of the adults were up on the flybridge really throwing off the center of gravity. there are enough laws. there is enough enforcement of said laws-for the most part. this law is virtually impossible to enforce. you can't have a marine cop at every dock inventorying the payload of every boat as it leaves the marina. this is a forrest gump-ism...stupid is as stupid does! i think one of the first posts put it pretty well. make stupid illegal...

vindicator101

They do! Boats under 20ft will have a capacity placard. Boats over 20ft you use this formula to calculate the capacity. Length x Width divided by 15 = approximate number of people.

I can't imagine loosing a child but like others have said, you can't legislate stupid out of people. IMO everyone should take a boating safety course but having it mandatory just gives the state and local pin heads an opening to add anything they want to the coarse. With the exception of speed and noise restrictions most boating rules and laws were based on national/international rules of the road. I've noticed since my state (Virginia) has implemented mandatory safety course that the wording has started to change to include a lot of what they deem as "unsafe practices" whether its the way you operate the boat or what the passengers are doing on the boat. Maybe coincidence maybe not.

4bus

iTrader: (4)

And by all boats you mean any boat under 20 ft right?
http://www.boatingbasicsonline.com/c...eneral/3_7.php

My boat is a 38 that I purchased new, has never had a plate, and it is not required by law

4bus

iTrader: (4)

That is just insane, why does it seem the people with little boats always have so many friends?

A guy sunk a 16 ft bowrider trying to leave the channel of the east end of my lake earlier this year. 4 ft white caps, he had 9 people on it and it only took about 3 waves outside the channel. They all swam safely to the break wall, still....we get all get thrown into the same class when accidents happen.....and outsiders call for more laws to save us from ourselves.

If the adults starting this case we on the boat that capsized shame on them for not knowing more about what they we venturing into, if they we not on the boat shame on them for trusting someone else with their children on the water and night.

JETDOC

I believe only boats under 26' require the max occupancy sticker. Any length above is up to the manufacturer to add or not add. I do agree a boating course & intelligence test should be mandatory, but the gov't can't run anything right. On the weekends I would guess about 1/2 of the boat drivers by me don't belong on the water. Most have no clue on right of way, speed to pull tubers, & dont pull your 4 yr in a narrow spot on a turn with boats all around. The gene pool needs a good cleaning

Too Stroked

I’m going to be brutally honest here and I have over 50 safe years on the water to back up everything I say. First of all, I am deeply sorry for the parents of the children who lost their lives in that terrible accident. Nobody wants to buy their children.

Second, the accident was 100% preventable and 100% the fault of the captain – nobody else. (Remember, everybody’s trying to say its somebody else’s fault here.) Would mandatory Safe Boating courses for all boaters have helped? I hate to say it, but here in New York, all boaters are required to take a 4 hour Safe Boating course. This law was pushed through in response to way to many idiots on jet skis causing all sorts of havoc. Has it helped? Not for the idiot behind the wheel of that Silverton and from what I can see, not for jet ski drivers either. It seems to make somebody (probably the politicians) feel better though.

Finally, does anybody in their right mind actually believe that adding Capacity Plates to all boats would have prevented this accident? How many of you with boats under 21 feet can tell me what the capacity of your boat is? Does anybody actually believe the idiot behind the wheel of that Silverton would have read, understood and / or followed one if it had been there? Sorry, the answer is absolutely no.

As others have said, you can’t fix stupid. And apparently we can't find a way to outlaw it either.

4bus

iTrader: (4)

I'm with you on all of your points, however you are only required to take a boating saftey course in NY to operate a jet ski (any age) or operate a boat under the age of 18. If you are 19 or older you can run any boat you want with no training.