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Originally Posted by sailaway21
Brenda,
Thanks for the thoughtful post.
While doing an internship with USCG-MSO, Detroit I was involved in the investigation of a similar accident. A salesman, presumably experienced, was out on a test drive of a go-fast boat prior to customer delivery on Lake St Clair. He encountered some difficulty in switching over fuel tanks, was looking down, came off plane, got the fuel flowing again, and, just as he came back on plane tore the stern-sheets out of a 20' Chris Craft runabout. The two men on the Chris saw him coming and dove over the side to escape. The Labrador Retriever with them did not and lost his tail via prop damage. The Chris Craft was pretty much a total loss, while the Check Mate had a few scratches and bent props.
The inherent danger of this type vessel is that it does not come up on plane until around 30 mph. Given the design parameters, that makes for a significant blind spot dead ahead. On a crowded lake, such as St Clair, that can be, and is, a serious safety risk. I would venture to say that the operators of such craft have a greater burden of responsibility to ensure they are operating safely due to the design of their vessels.
Most of my sailing is done on a lake that is about one third the size of the most desirable sailing lake in my area. The sole reason I sail where I do is the lack of congestion. I can only be responsible for my actions, and the less boat congestion there is, the fewer boaters I have to be worried about. I am not in favor of licensing boaters as I view the only purpose of licensing to be a post-facto method of punishment. I see little in the licensing procedures, or the manifest results on the road, to indicate that licensing of motor vehicle drivers has any impact on safety whatsoever. The whole thing is a damn feel-good joke.
The only bigger joke on the topic is that, "speed kills'. Speed has nothing to do with it, per se. Stupidity kills. Ignorance runs a close second. 100 mph in a M-B 450 SEL on 'V' rated tires is quite comfortable and, in my view, safe. 100 mph in my F-150 pick 'em up with my recap specials I've been meaning to get the nails out of is stupid. Either one, with an inexperienced driver behind the wheel, defacto ignorant, is troublesome.
Asking the question, "how will my actions affect others" is the answer to the first question on the maturity examination. Maturity is no longer stylish. Too bad.
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