Should wearing a lifejacket be mandatory?

[Diva27]

Originally Posted by poopdeckpappy

I agree with the 12 and under should be manadory, beyond that NO, keep them readily accessible and allow common sence to dictates there use.

I still think it would not be the end of the world if the regs required them to be worn in canoes, kayaks, small open runabouts etc, for the simple reason that you should be wearing one anyway, and if we want to pay taxes to have marine patrols, we should stop the time wasting (and intrusive) practice of patrols "pulling over" small craft and having the occupants rummage through their cockpit lockers yanking out pfds to show they're complying. Just have the cops and CG eyeball small craft whose occupants should be wearing them. If they've got em on, fine, just move on to the next candidate. I got pulled over once on Georgian Bay in a 20-foot center console, and it was actually dangerous, bouncing around in waves, banging against a police boat.
Honestly though, we're still going to lose plenty of people to Darwin's Law of the dumb ones going first. I don't think any reg is going to stop the deaths in which some dingbats at a cottage decide to down a case of beer and go canoeing in the middle of the night. Death by canoe (and alcohol) is a Canadian tradition.

[bloodhunter]

I believe Maryland law mandates life vest wearing for kids under a certain age (our kids are all adults and we don't have any grandkids yet (sigh) so not sure of the exact age). That being said, my wife and I always wear auto-inflatables when on deck -- inflatables are USCG-approved as type V life vests -- and we offer them to our guests who usually put them on when we go out. However, I'm of two minds about mandatory wearing of life vests. On the negative side, I don't like the govenrment tell us what to do in yet another area where we should take personal responsibility; on the positive side life vests do save lives, but only when they're used. Not sure what side I'd come down on if I had to make a choice-- but I don't so I won't

[celenoglu]

Falling to sea is a very rare case. PFD's and life jackets might break your arm or injure you if you fall from some hight. I cannot imagine myself wearing a life jacket in a summer month.

I think the rule works:

If you forc everybody to wear PFD's on all boats, most of the boaters will give up sailing in those waters, if no body sails no body will be drowned and the rule seems to work.

[Valiente]

I am against the mandatory wearing of bike and motorcycle helmets, because I am for organ harvesting. The math is pretty simple. The death of someone more concerned with the wind in their hair than safety permits the saving of someone with terminal disease.

Go, "freedom". Try to land on your head.

[AE28]

No!

[gimmellsdad]

Originally Posted by Valiente

I am against the mandatory wearing of bike and motorcycle helmets, because I am for organ harvesting. The math is pretty simple. The death of someone more concerned with the wind in their hair than safety permits the saving of someone with terminal disease.

Go, "freedom". Try to land on your head.

I think it's pretty funny how this same debate rang through about wearing seatbelts and how uncomfortable they are. This should be a no brainer.

Valiente-I've never heard it put so poetically. As a Canadian, I find it wierd driving through some states and seeing people riding their morotcycles without helmets.

[Stillraining]

Should wearing a lifejacket be mandatory?

No Way!

[n0w0rries]

I just can't believe how some people are so quick to give up their freedom.

When it comes to helmets and PFDs, I think people should have the freedom to do what they please. Smart people will wear appropriate safety gear when conditions merit. If I decide to hop on a quad and ride slowly across the camping area to get a cup of coffee... I should be able to do that without a helmet on (but it would be a ticket where I ride). If I'm jumping dunes and I'm not wearing a helmet, that's darwinism.

I wondered when I bought my kayak if I was forced to wear a PFD. That makes no sense to me. If I'm swimming, I don't need a PFD, but if I'm riding a giant flotation device I need one? I figured if I got questioned about it I'd just jump in the water and tow it to show how ridiculous it was.

Can we just take a state that nobody likes and turn it into this regulationville that some people crave? You'd need somebody with common sense so you could figure out what all the new laws needed to be, and surveillance cameras everywhere so they could be enforced. Maybe a new website, finepal, so you can easily pay your fines online.

I prefer Margaritaville myself.

[AE28]

Originally Posted by n0w0rries

Can we just take a state that nobody likes and turn it into this regulationville that some people crave? You'd need somebody with common sense

nOw...

Talking about government regulation and using the words "common sense" in the same paragraph is a non sequitur!!!

That's a major part of our problem - the writers and enforcers of our laws have no common sense!!!

Paul

[Diva27]

I guess it all comes down to whether you feel you should have enough sense to wear a lifejacket in certain boats (or the right not exercise common sense), or if the law should tell you to do so. On my keelboat, I don't feel the law should tell me, even though I wear one routinely. But I've done enough canoeing, kayaking and dinghy racing over the years to know that it is just common sense to wear one in those small craft, because the likelihood of ending up in the water is high. Where I live, cold water is an additional complication. If the law decides it should be mandatory for small craft, so be it, at least where I live. Warm-water sailors may feel quite differently.
I can well recall how years ago in one-design racing all us macho sailors would wait for the Race Committee to hoist the lifejacket flag before thinking of putting one on. Now it's pretty much a given that you wear one all the time. If you've ever capsized a dinghy and had to right one, especially in waves, you'll know how quickly you tire. That's not when you need to be figuring out where your PFD has floated off to.
I can't imagine paddling a kayak without wearing one. If you're not wearing it, and the law requires one, where are you going to put it? If you capsize a kayak and find yourself hanging upside-down under water, you'll wish you had thought to put on the PFD. A guy early in the season this year flipped his kayak near Parry Sound. He had to struggle out of the boat, but at least he was wearing the PFD. The cops found him 30 minutes later, succumbing to hypothermia but afloat in his PFD and clinging to the boat. I'm sure he thought he was invincible.
So I guess my position is, IF the powers that be are thinking of regulating lifejacket use, let's limit it to the boats you should be wearing one in anyway, and where they will save the most lives. But it will also, as I've said, do away with a lot of time-wasting and invasive police inspections. (That said, when I was pulled over on Georgian Bay as I mentioned, I had my kids with me and everyone was wearing a PFD. The police just kept asking me to produce things, and I finally realized they were probably having me open every imaginable hatch so they could see if I had any open beer.)