Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Say it isn't so!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:






SAFETY BOARD TO HOLD FORUM ON PERSONAL FLOTATION DEVICES

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Washington, D. C. -The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public forum to discuss mandatory wear of personal flotation devices (PFD) on recreational boats, NTSB Chairman Ellen Engleman Conners has announced. The one-day forum will begin at 9:00 am on August 25, 2004 at the NTSB Academy in Ashburn, VA.

The purpose of the forum is to gather all available data, and to promote an open and informative discussion of policy issues related to mandatory PFD use. The Safety Board has a long history of working to improve recreational boating safety. It has been on the Board's "Most Wanted" list of transportation safety improvements since its inception in 1990.

"The Board has made a solid commitment to advance recreational boating safety by all means available to our agency," said Chairman Engleman Conners. "A public forum will be an excellent mechanism to bring together agencies and organizations to identify solutions that will improve public safety in recreational boating."

Coast Guard statistics show that 750 boaters died in 2002. Eighty-five percent of those who drowned were not wearing PFDs, even though in many cases, PFDs were aboard. These statistics have been consistent from year to year and Coast Guard statistics show that approximately 450 lives could be saved each year if the victims wore PFDs. The Safety Board wants to build on this information and other data available to evaluate the safety benefits of mandatory wearing of PFDs on recreational boating.

Currently, most States require PFD wear for children and for personal watercraft operators. No State requires PFD wear for all occupants. Yet six years of observational studies by the Coast Guard show that less than 5% of adults in open boats wear PFDs.

Some of the issues discussed at the forum will be:

The impact of federal and/or state legislation mandating wearing of PFDs on recreational boats
Various vessels and type of operation that should be included in or exempted from mandatory wear rules
New PFD technology
Alternatives to mandatory wear rules

Registration details for the forum and directions to the Academy may be found on the Board's website at www.ntsb.gov.

NTSB Media Contact: Keith Holloway, (202) 314-6100
[email protected]

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Last year or late 2002 they federally mandated that children under 13(?) must wear a PFD whenever a boat is in motion, unless they are in a cabin/below deck. I thought this was the Coast Guard that mandated it.

It's ridiculous to require across the board wearing of PFD's for adults. This would slam boat sales for sure.

Having said that good quality inflatable vests are not a big deal to wear. Last weekend I satisfied my curiosity to see just how fast one of the auto-inflate one's would inflate. I jumped in and let myself sink and in between 2-3 seconds it was inflating and I was floating in no time. Thought it would have taken much longer.

John

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

We wear them whenever we are on plane, thats our personal choice. At first I did not like it, but I got a life line poker run model and it fits good and keeps me safe. My life is worth more than the hassel of wearing it. Although we still need to carry the crazy "coast Guard" approved versions. My .02

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

boy that will make for some stupid looking tans!!!!!!!

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

450 people per year, is not that many. I wonder how many die from cancer or drunk driving?

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Me to.

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Yearly cancer deaths are always above 500,000.

~18,000 dead in alcohol related automobile accidents in 2002. ~43,000 total automobile fatalities that year. I wonder when they will be holding a forum on mandatory helmet use for automobile occupants :rolleyes:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/...crashstatistics.pdf

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

so they should just chulk up 450 as natural selection

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Ok in Florida you have to wear seat belts in cars !!!!!
But you don't have to wear helmets on motorcycles !!!!!!

Now lets FU-- with BOATERS !!!! Nice.........

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Just more governmental regulations B.S. let's see no smoking,helmet laws,seat belt laws, emmisions regulations,special licenses,ect, ect, and it's all insurance driven and so the MAN can have an excuse to pull you over. Its getting to be a little too much now.OK I feel better

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Oh yea I forgot don't make any noise with that Harley that you pay 300 a year taxes on or that $100,000 plus Powerboat you have it might (will) offend somebody OK i'm really done now Thank you

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

I agree :blaster: :hothead:

They would be funny looking....not to mention not seeing all the hot chicks :(

Hopefully the boat manufacturers will get together and fight this if they try to push regulation any further.

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

more liberal do-gooder crap :hothead: and job justification.

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Well, the way I look at it is................you allow motorcyclists not wear helmets....so if they don't wear brain buckets, WHY should I have to wear a life vest or even a safety belt in my car. I think I can survive better than a cyclist in a boat and car than on a bike. Just my $.02

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

76.459% of all statistics are made up :eureka:

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

At least drowning is suppose to be a pleasant death.More goverment BS :crazy:



also The only time I wear my seat belt is in the race car or at a road block.

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

I always make my beer wear a koozie, for its own protection!!

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

These guys ever stop to think that a lot of these may not have been or weren't accidents?

A local incident many years ago had mom and pop (very elderly and out of shape) out fishing in a small boat. Pop supposively dropped his wallet in the drink and dove in to retrieve it. He never came up until he was dragged up, wallet in pocket. So he dove in, found it and stuck it back in is pocket while on the bottom at 25 feet?
Police investigated looking for the perverbial shoe print on his A** from being kicked off the boat.

Police could never prove anything.

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Here is a link to another thread that has good info from BoatCop (Sheriff, LaPaz County, AZ)

Mandatory Education and PFD's

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Hopefully, they will do a little more research during this forum and notice that most of the drownings are the result of falling overboard from or capsizing small boats like canoes, jon boats and aluminum fishing boats. Like PWC's, it makes sense to always wear a PFD under those conditions. Once you get into a larger boat with more freeboard and stabilty, the odds of winding up in the drink involuntarily diminish substantially.

If I recall correctly, I think something like 50% of all boating fatalities involve booze. That one's already being addressed.

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Well according to the link above, over 4,000 people die per year as pedestrians. They proably should ban pedestrians. That's way to dangerous. It's proably safer to drive. But don't speed. Almost 12,000 die per year from speeding. Intersections should be outlawed too. Over 9,000 people people die each year just from passing through intersections! This is a tragedy! You could save several hundred thousand people each year by just banning pedestrians, large trucks, intersections and by reducing the speed limits to 0!

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

give me a break!

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

PFD's for any speed over 125 mph is a MUST ---- in a john boat
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Re: Manditory use of PFD's...Get ready
 

Cruise ships. If boaters are targeted now, how much longer for cruise ships? Hope they attend the meeting with all their muscle. I don't see the boat mfg'ers actively working against this, for the bad public image they may receive. But, their buying public will appreciate not having this law passed.