And....

I equate wearing a PFD on a boat to wearing a seatbelt in the car, or wearing a helmet on a motorcycle. It's your own choice and effects nobody but yourself. So, the most logical way to handle the life jacket situation is simply offer one to every one of your passengers.

Let's have a reality check. 70% of deaths in boating accidents are due to drowning. Almost 85% of people who drowned had no life jacket on.

A. Your kid drowns In a boating accident. Your life is ruined, and your marriage is most likely over. You can remain in a state of depression for your remaining years, always wondering why you didn't use life jackets, and how you killed your kid.

B. You drown in a boating accident, and your kid lives. Your kid's life is ruined by not having a father or mother to raise him/her, and they are angry at you for dying. With every life milestone, graduations, marriage, birth of children, they are reminded that they are missing a parent.

Michael

Wow, think I should sell the boats and live in a bubble. Thanks for the upbeat post!

It's more like a helmet law; not seatbelts.

Flying 'bodies' have killed people in car accidents. Such usually happens usually in the same vehicle in a collision and/or rollover when 1 occupant pinballs around and takes out everyone else. But an 175 lbs. ejected mass at speed can do damage to whatever else it hits as well (has also happened)

I agree with you. The other side can argue our insurance premiums and taxes go up to pay first responders and doctors to cover folks that don't take precautions to protect themselves.

But where do you stop? If I over salt my food and have high blood pressure everyone else is paying for my condition. So we better take salt away from restaurants and grocery stores!!!


P.S. I don't make my kids wear helmets when they ride their bikes. But thanks to our society, they get a trophy for showing up to an event.

Be careful how you nit pick on how others raise their own or we won't have any choices left to ourselves.

WOW, this thread went from irresponsible boater video to pinball people.

no $hit...

Anyone that tries to dictate to me how to live MY life will be considered a tyrant and treated as such . If you enjoy being dictated to then may I suggest you move to a country that is run by just such a person . Live , let live and mind your own phuckin business . And this is all I have to say about that .

After having watched the video I can make the following observations. The driver did have a lanyard on , no one was wearing a pfd , he appeared to be in complete control of the craft , the water conditions did not appear to be ruff . Save for the fact that no one was wearing a pfd I don't believe the operater was doing anything that the great majority have done at some point in our boating careers. For all the people that have commented on the lack of PFD's by the passangers ,even if they were wearing standard issue pfd's and he was in fact going in excess of 90 mph they would have been of no value as most standard issue pfd's are rated for 50 mph or less . Should one of the passangers exited the boat at 95 mph wearing a std pfd it would have ripped apart on impact and if the person was to have drowned they probably would have drowned in any event . I would venture to gues that the great majority of the boaters on this site ( me included ) that have boats that go in excess of 70 mph probably do not have the appropriate life jackets for the situation.I shutter to think that the guy driving his offshore 90 mph with his inflatable pfd believing that pfd will save him should he hit the water at 90. So it is easy to critize what other do , but we should look in the mirror before we come down to hard on our boating brothers. Just my 2 cents
RG.