Is your state next???
Whether you're a high performance boater or a fisherman, you have to read this!!!
Who wants to head to the ocean at 30 mph???
I knew it would eventually come to this.
Now is the time for all powerboaters to speak up and attend these meetings and make your voice heard.
Otherwise, you are going to have to get up alot earlier to get out to your favorite fishing spot.
PUBLISHED 9-21-02 ASBURY PARK PRESS
State hears call for slow boating
Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/21/02
By KIRK MOORE
STAFF WRITER
Deadly boating accidents have state legislators and the state Boat Regulation Commission looking to tighten the rules for recreational captains -- from a potential 30-mph speed limit on coastal bays during summer weekends, to requiring more mandatory safety education for new skippers.
At its first public hearing yesterday, a new state Assembly task force on boating safety heard a call for licensing of boat operators from Rosemary Decker, whose husband Thomas, 58, of Clementon, was among those lost when a 60-foot Viking yacht ran over his 20-foot boat two years ago.
"My husband and three of his friends were in a horrific accident," Decker said. "He had a lot of experience. I never worried about him. He was very safety conscious" and had taken a number of Coast Guard courses as a private captain, she said.
The other captain, Barry M. Flowers, 64, faces a six-month jail term and six-figure fine when he is sentenced in Ocean County Superior Court next week.
"The man didn't mean to kill three people that day. But he did," Decker said. That her husband, a seasoned boatman with 40 years' experience on the water, could be run down by accident shows the need for mandatory licensing, she told legislators.
Meanwhile, the Boat Regulation Commission this week took a first step toward a speed limit on the state's tidewater bays and inlets.
The commission, a long-standing advisory panel to the state attorney general, last Wednesday asked its lawyer to draft "a submission to set an inshore speed limit," said commission Chairman Roger K. Brown of Brick.
Brown declined to reveal much detail about the proposal, which is still being drafted. But John Shanahan of the New Jersey Marine Trades Association said the commissioners discussed setting a maximum 30-mph limit on the bays, from Raritan Bay to Cape May.
As discussed Wednesday, such a speed limit would be in effect only on a seasonable basis and on certain days -- perhaps May to September, from sunrise Friday to sunset on Sundays, Shanahan said.
Shanahan said the trades group -- which represents boat dealers, marina owners and others in the boating industry -- is not taking a position on speed limits yet.
"We want to promote boating as a safe activity," said Shanahan, who added that captains are required under Coast Guard rules to keep "reasonable and prudent speed."
The boat commission took up the speed-limit issue because of concerns voiced by boaters, particularly on the bays, Brown said.
"You've got personal watercraft now that can do 70 mph, catamarans that can go 100 mph," Brown said. "If you want to go that fast, you should do it out in the ocean."
The new Assembly task force was organized recently, in the last few days. Its enabling legislation is to be introduced Monday, said Assemblyman Jeffrey W. Moran, R-Ocean.
Moran, a sailor from Beachwood, said he will push personal watercraft legislation that would widen the required safety margin between riders and swimmers, docks and other boats from 50 feet to 100 feet.
The task force chairman, Assemblyman and boater Robert Smith, D-Gloucester, said he asked for the group to be formed after discussions with Rosemary Decker. Other families in Smith's district have suffered calamities on the water, including the loss of three brothers when their high-speed catamaran capsized off Sea Isle City this year.
Overall, boating accidents in the state are declining -- even with boat registrations soaring during recent years. But 2002 is shaping up as a fairly deadly year, said State Police Sgt. Roy Bubigkit. So far, 17 people have died in 13 accidents -- the latest being a man whose boat ran into a bridge abutment on Lake Hopatcong on Thursday night, he said.
Lake Hopatcong is one waterway subject to a 30-mph daytime speed limit -- and State Police say they enforce it with radar.
Smith said he was not aware of the boat commission's speed proposal. That came as no surprise to Brown. His little-known advisory board has been initially overlooked in years past when the Legislature focused on boat issues. It was the commission that drafted the rules for boat noise and restricting personal watercraft from the Point Pleasant Canal, Brown noted.
The task force will hold public hearings this fall and winter, and look to issue recommendations and possibly a legislative package in February, Smith said.
"Ultimately, it will be some sort of compromise," Smith said. "It won't be an extreme proposal."
Kirk Moore: (732) 557-5728
Whether you're a high performance boater or a fisherman, you have to read this!!!
Who wants to head to the ocean at 30 mph???
I knew it would eventually come to this.
Now is the time for all powerboaters to speak up and attend these meetings and make your voice heard.
Otherwise, you are going to have to get up alot earlier to get out to your favorite fishing spot.
PUBLISHED 9-21-02 ASBURY PARK PRESS
State hears call for slow boating
Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/21/02
By KIRK MOORE
STAFF WRITER
Deadly boating accidents have state legislators and the state Boat Regulation Commission looking to tighten the rules for recreational captains -- from a potential 30-mph speed limit on coastal bays during summer weekends, to requiring more mandatory safety education for new skippers.
At its first public hearing yesterday, a new state Assembly task force on boating safety heard a call for licensing of boat operators from Rosemary Decker, whose husband Thomas, 58, of Clementon, was among those lost when a 60-foot Viking yacht ran over his 20-foot boat two years ago.
"My husband and three of his friends were in a horrific accident," Decker said. "He had a lot of experience. I never worried about him. He was very safety conscious" and had taken a number of Coast Guard courses as a private captain, she said.
The other captain, Barry M. Flowers, 64, faces a six-month jail term and six-figure fine when he is sentenced in Ocean County Superior Court next week.
"The man didn't mean to kill three people that day. But he did," Decker said. That her husband, a seasoned boatman with 40 years' experience on the water, could be run down by accident shows the need for mandatory licensing, she told legislators.
Meanwhile, the Boat Regulation Commission this week took a first step toward a speed limit on the state's tidewater bays and inlets.
The commission, a long-standing advisory panel to the state attorney general, last Wednesday asked its lawyer to draft "a submission to set an inshore speed limit," said commission Chairman Roger K. Brown of Brick.
Brown declined to reveal much detail about the proposal, which is still being drafted. But John Shanahan of the New Jersey Marine Trades Association said the commissioners discussed setting a maximum 30-mph limit on the bays, from Raritan Bay to Cape May.
As discussed Wednesday, such a speed limit would be in effect only on a seasonable basis and on certain days -- perhaps May to September, from sunrise Friday to sunset on Sundays, Shanahan said.
Shanahan said the trades group -- which represents boat dealers, marina owners and others in the boating industry -- is not taking a position on speed limits yet.
"We want to promote boating as a safe activity," said Shanahan, who added that captains are required under Coast Guard rules to keep "reasonable and prudent speed."
The boat commission took up the speed-limit issue because of concerns voiced by boaters, particularly on the bays, Brown said.
"You've got personal watercraft now that can do 70 mph, catamarans that can go 100 mph," Brown said. "If you want to go that fast, you should do it out in the ocean."
The new Assembly task force was organized recently, in the last few days. Its enabling legislation is to be introduced Monday, said Assemblyman Jeffrey W. Moran, R-Ocean.
Moran, a sailor from Beachwood, said he will push personal watercraft legislation that would widen the required safety margin between riders and swimmers, docks and other boats from 50 feet to 100 feet.
The task force chairman, Assemblyman and boater Robert Smith, D-Gloucester, said he asked for the group to be formed after discussions with Rosemary Decker. Other families in Smith's district have suffered calamities on the water, including the loss of three brothers when their high-speed catamaran capsized off Sea Isle City this year.
Overall, boating accidents in the state are declining -- even with boat registrations soaring during recent years. But 2002 is shaping up as a fairly deadly year, said State Police Sgt. Roy Bubigkit. So far, 17 people have died in 13 accidents -- the latest being a man whose boat ran into a bridge abutment on Lake Hopatcong on Thursday night, he said.
Lake Hopatcong is one waterway subject to a 30-mph daytime speed limit -- and State Police say they enforce it with radar.
Smith said he was not aware of the boat commission's speed proposal. That came as no surprise to Brown. His little-known advisory board has been initially overlooked in years past when the Legislature focused on boat issues. It was the commission that drafted the rules for boat noise and restricting personal watercraft from the Point Pleasant Canal, Brown noted.
The task force will hold public hearings this fall and winter, and look to issue recommendations and possibly a legislative package in February, Smith said.
"Ultimately, it will be some sort of compromise," Smith said. "It won't be an extreme proposal."
Kirk Moore: (732) 557-5728
Or should I conclude that excessive speed was NOT the proximate cause of the accident cited? Maybe if they just enforce no wake speeds everywhere we won't need licensing. 
