Originally Posted By: 90 dB
<...> Operating a vessel is a lot different than driving a car. Most people are actually taught to drive, either in school or by a relative. You have to pass a test to demonstrate your ability to drive safely. Most would agree that this is a good system. It saves lives. Will some people drive like morons? Sure, but doing so they risk losing their license and that alone is a big deterrent.

<...>A mandatory boating course, covering the basics of boat handling, docking, passing while underway, set and drift, dead reckoning, emergency radio procedure, etc. would make the waterways safer for everyone. It might have even saved the lives of these two boys from Jupiter.


Regards,

Bob


I see your point Bob.

On the other hand, did certification make scuba diving any safer? Instead it became a revenue stream for PADI dive shops.

When I was a kid, the older kids taught us how to dive. First lesson: Never hold your breath, especially while changing depths and if you don't know what it is, don't touch it.

It was a rare case when someone did something stupid under the water and paid the price. After certification, it's still a rare case when somebody does something stupid under the water and pays the price. In fact, we usually lose at least one PADI certified diver every lobster season.

The difference is, now you have to shell out money for a course to get PADI certification before you can get your tanks filled. The first one I checked on on-line went for over $800.00.

I never got certified, I was safe diving long before the course. By the time certification was mandatory, I was getting tired of it anyway. I've gone a couple of times since then, and went with a PADI buddy who filled the tanks.

The boys from Jupiter should have known better, they weren't novices. However, most people that age think they are invincible (subconsciously anyway), thrill seekers, and daredevils.

I admit, I could be wrong, but I don't think a boat operators license would have saved them.

I live off a curvy, hilly road and my street turns off a 2 lane road going uphill. The speed limit is 35 but we lose a few each year from going too fast on that road, losing control, and driving into the lagoon. All licensed drivers, most youthful.

A year or so ago, someone lost control on a curve known as "Dead Man's Curve", wiped himself out and two unfortunate senior citizens approaching the curve from the south. Speed limit on the road is 35, curve suggestion is 25 and he was going over 65. I guess Dead Man's Curve was a challenge he lost.

Plus, when I go home I'll put my turn signal on, as I go up the hill to my street at least once per week someone will pass me on the left instead of waiting for me to turn. Cars pop over the crest with only a second or two of warning. It's a head-on waiting to happen. Yet the licensed drivers can't wait 10 or 15 seconds for me to make the turn.

License or not, there will be bozos on the water who will not be safe boaters and not only endanger themselves, but endanger others as well. Humans may be one of the smartest animals on the planet, but at times we are also one of the stupidest animals on the planet.

And I do agree that we all should take a safe boating course. At least Chapman Piloting, Seamanship & Small Boat Handling should be read by all boaters.

There are those who will go hiking without learning what to pack and how to stay safe. Some will pay the price. When I visited the Grand Canyon, in spite of all the signs, a Park Ranger said that they lose about 6 people per year getting too close to the edge for a picture and plummeting down the wall. In spite of all the signs, a few people still feed the alligators in the Everglades National Park. People still inject heroin into their veins. People still climb mountains. People still let their sons play tackle football, people still smoke cigarettes, people still hang glide, and so on. Some will end up paying the ultimate price. No amount of regulation will fix that.

People still listen to loud music or go to sporting events where the noise is over 100db (the loudest noise ever measured was at a sporting event in the USA and it registered over 140db). Everybody left with permanently damaged ears.

When I was in high school, there was a one-lane bridge over the Boca Raton inlet on state highway A1A. Not a two lane bridge, but a one lane bridge with a stop sign on either side. The north side of the bridge was fed by a blind curve - you couldn't see cars coming. The thing the more daring high school boys would do was to speed to that bride at 50mph or more and fly over it. Fortunately nobody got killed, only because the traffic at night was light. Licensed drivers all.

The loss of the two boys from Jupiter is indeed tragic, and I think there is little hope they will be found alive, if at all.

They should have known better. I did dangerous things when I was young, thankfully I got lucky. Not everybody does. That doesn't mean I'm not sympathetic. I'm sad they didn't get lucky that day.

I don't know what the answer is. How do you cure stupidity?

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