Should a boater’s safety course be manditory?

I hesitated to reply to this question… but can’t help myself.

Should a boater’s safety course be mandatory? Well, yes. I see a constant, near daily, barrage of people that damage their own property, risk their own lives as well as the lives of others, not because they are rude, inconsiderate, or lawless, but simply because the do not know simple and basic principals of water navigation and boat operation.

What would driving a car be like if the vast majority of operators did not know what a stop or yield sign meant?

I assure you, a huge number of the people you meet on the water, the Mississippi River for example, do not know what the red and green bouys are telling them, what a closing dam is, or how to safely pass or meet an on-coming boat.

A boater’s safety course would not automatically instill manners and ethics to those taking the course. It would however, give those operating a boat the basic concepts of how to operate their boats and how to safely do so around others.

Who should take it? Everyone that drives a boat. Me. You. No age discrimination. Not a gender thing.

Taking this course would not remove the inconsiderate masses. Heck, nothing can do that. But there would be those that would conduct themselves differently, appropriately and safely, if they had the information and training to do so. The result would be less damage to property and lives would in fact be saved. How many? Who knows. Maybe just one. And that would be enough to justify all of this.

Good topic. Thanks to all for sharing.

Should it be manditory…NO! Absolutely not. Never.

There are waters where it would be helpful, narrow rivers, busy lakes, big water. But where do you draw the line. Should Grandpa be able to take his grandson out in a canoe on a 10 acre non motorized private lake w/out the grandson having boaters training? I think that most would agree that it would be OK. How about boats on non-motorized lakes? Would a boater safety course help windsurfers stay away from belly boats and canoes-maybe, but should it be law, NOT!

The last thing that we need is more govt putting more restrictions on how we use our resources. Eventually, we would have boaters safety, snowmobile safety, 4 wheeler safety, riding lawn mower safety, paddle boat safety, water wing safety.

It is a good idea to have classes available-esp for people caught breaking the law. But making it law that you need more permits to do things. Bad idea.

Very well stated H20

DaveB

I believe you are overstating the potential for government involvement here.

We have madatory driver’s training to operate a vehicle. Do I have to go through some training to ride my bike? No. The neighbor kid just wizzed by on his tricycle and I believe he is completely unlicensed… or at least under-insured!…lol To make the assumption that grandpa wouldn’t be able to toodle around on some pond with his grandkids in a canoe is pretty parallel to assuming mandatory training to drive a car would automatically result in mandatory training for other modes of transport. I was required to take training to drive my truck. So far I can still ride my bike or a 4 wheeler, off-road of course, without additional, mandatory training. Mandatory training to drive on public roads has been standard for decades, giving government ample time to push for training for other modes of transport. As of this moment I am unaware of any such push to do so.

To clarify, I’m in favor of training, mandatory training, to operate a boat being pushed by a motor. Gas motor. Any size. All navigable bodies of water with public access. I don’t care what a person does on his uncle’s private pond. Or in a canoe. Nobody ever got swamped in a drive by canoe-ing! Or run into from behind by a paddleboat causing the loss life and property damage.

To me this is no different that operating a MOTORIZED vehicle on PUBLIC roads. Anyone operating a MOTORIZED boat on PUBLIC waterways should at the very least be required to know how to do so with a basic understanding of the “rules of the road” for boaters. People are not born knowing these things… expecting them to is risking far too much in my opinion. A few hours. A few bucks. Some basic knowledge that all people need to keep from making preventable mistakes.

Normally I’m against government intrusion in our lives but in this case I would have to say that a manditory boaters safety course is a good idea. I know too many people who have purchased boats these last few years who have no clue on safely operating their crafts. I’ve also noticed that the river is alot more crowded now than ever before. Mix those two ingredients and you have a recipe for disaster. Every boater out there should know how to pass a boat and how to proceed when meeting boats. I can’t help but think that knowledge alone would prevent alot of accidents.

So we have manditory boat training for everyboby just like motor vehicles. When you take motor vehicle training they tell you to use your blinkers when turning or making a lane change, stop at stop signs, do not speed and do not talk on cell phone when driving. So my question would be how many of you people that think boater saftey training should be manditory have broken one of these items in the last week? So will boater saftey training really change things that much? Jerry

Maybe? Really, I’d hope so, but honestly don’t know.

I have a bunch of stories I could share that are the basis for my opinion on the matter. I’ll drop one here that involved several of the pro-staff members that were working together on a group guide trip last summer.

Tuck, myself and another boat were guiding a three boat crew on the south end of Pepin and down into the river on the wingdams for walleyes and smallies. We were hopping dams, I was a couple dams downstream from Tuck as this unfolded.

He’s anchored on a wingdam, half way from the shoreline out to the green can that coincidentally was placed on the end of this dam. Here comes one of those 30+ foot Carvers. Right at Tuck and his boat load of customers. Full speed. Tuck spots this ya-hoo and starts waving. Then waving and jumping up and down. Barely gets ya-hoo to change course before impact and then the huge cruiser wake about sends Mr. Tuckner and crew to the bottom of the river. Ya-hoo immediately starts cussing and swearing at Tuck about “what the blankety-blank you doing fishing in the middle of the channel!”

To make a long story short… after Tuck pointed out what the heck the greens and red bouys meant… Mr. Ya-hoo drove off embarrassed and in a huff.

Lots of uneducated, uninformed folks out there driving big, no huge, powerful pieces of equipment with no idea how to do so safely.

Do I think we’ll see a mandatory safety course soon? Heck no. Not a chance. The question was “should it be mandatory?” To that I say yes.

I AM 100% for mandatory weekly or monthly boater safety courses for all full time guides that are also part time (probably full time) web masters.

The course will take place in my or his boat and the cost will be a 12 pack of beer.

Quote:

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I AM 100% for mandatory weekly or monthly boater safety courses for all full time guides that are also part time (probably full time) web masters.

The course will take place in my or his boat and the cost will be a 12 pack of beer.

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Mighty clever Dave! Mighty clever indeed! BUT………..the cleverness needs to reveal how ANY safety course, real or fictitious, will ever permiss beer as a prerequisit of conductivity. Once this is established, I’ll team up with you on converting all the other ones too!

I like the idea though……………that way you can cover such this as “Safety Handlining”………..How to safely leadcore on Pepin…………….Safety in pitching shorelines………………..the list goes on!

How does one become an instructor?

I’m a rookie to the Mississippi and KNEW that I DIDN’T KNOW an awful lot about the ‘sippi. I looked for info and attended a seminar that RiverFan held. That seminar, held
1.) at a sporting goods store as part of
2.) a fishing extravenganza,
3.) complete with pros doing free discussions,
4.) on a Saturday afternoon in March
was only attended by maybe 10 people. Not even 10 people to see RiverFan’s excellent presentation on both River Safety and How to Fish the Mississippi, complete with handouts. Heck, they were probably even giving out free sodas.

If you can’t get 30+ people to show up for a forum on the Mississippi in March, when that’s the only place you’re going to fish, tell me that people won’t take safety classes unless they have to. (maybe not even then)

– Rick