USCG Considers Mandatory PFD Use

[capngeo]

By all (including adults) in any vessel less than 18'!

Boat/US Story

[hogfighter]

Intrusive and inane. And we say that we live in a free country. Why don't they just issue us all bubbles to live in.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by capngeo

By all (including adults) in any vessel less than 18'!

Boat/US Story

Use them as suppositories for all I care

A small (minded) far away country of which we know little. and care even less.

[smurphny]

There are too many busybodies in government thinking up ever more ways to take away every stitch of freedom. Government needs to provide BASIC SERVICES like fixing roads and get the H out of social engineering. It's some kind of national sickness.

[anjou]

We have had this nannying for years now. You cant even cut your neighbours grass without doing the risk assesment and wearing the goggles, hi vis vest, hat gloves mask toecaps etc.

When the BBC do any reporting which involves water, everyone must wear a life vest, which is rather amusing when you see a swimmer in the water without one, then they get out and in the next shot they are wearing one, just as if they might fall in and come to harm.

When a film crew go aboard a trawler its so obvious the ships crew dont usually wear them as they are all decked out in brand new shiney ones.

These rules are thought up by petty jobsworths who are constantly under the threat of job loss unless they justify their existance. Anyway, who will police this latest crime?

[Minggat]

OK, requiring PFD on everybody in boats 18 ft or less says that most loss of life must have something to do with trailerable boats. If you entertain yourself by watching the comings and goings at any launch ramp, some logic to the idea may appear.

Hope they can exempt yacht tenders in their attempt to love us to death with their rule making.

[doug86]

interesting contrast of two thread today in CF. This thread, which so far members seem to think that the government is overstepping in an attempt to save lives...

and another one Water Rescue Failure - SF - Page 2 - Cruisers & Sailing Forums
where most posts seem to think the government didn't do enough.

I'm not taking sides, merely pointing out that there seems to be some schizophrenia in our country about the role of government in our lives.

[David M]

By shrinking government we would get less of this. There would be fewer idle hands looking for ways to make us safer.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by doug86

where most posts seem to think the government didn't do enough.

Maybe because I never saw that thread?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by doug86

interesting contrast of two thread today in CF. This thread, which so far members seem to think that the government is overstepping in an attempt to save lives...

and another one Water Rescue Failure - SF - Page 2 - Cruisers & Sailing Forums
where most posts seem to think the government didn't do enough.

I'm not taking sides, merely pointing out that there seems to be some schizophrenia in our country about the role of government in our lives.

One threads Republican... the other ones Democrat...........

[rtbates]

So who will save all your bitching asses when your vessel starts to sink????

Could it be the CG??????

IF they didn't have to rescue your ass they probably wouldn't care what you did on the water.

The CG is getting very tired of seeing folks drown all because they didn't wear a PFD..

Don't want any help and/or rules from the CG??? Start a campaign that lets anyone who wishes to opt out to sign a waiver stating that any and all CG rescue efforts will not be asked for...

[doug86]

Originally Posted by rtbates

So who will save all your bitching asses when your vessel starts to sink????

Could it be the CG??????

Actually, that was the point of my indicating today's other CF thread. It is a case where the CG choose NOT to save a life.

[sww914]

I worked at a lake resort one summer. One guy died that summer. He was epileptic and his last words before his seizure flopped him over the side were "I ain't wearing no sissy lifejacket."
I still think we should be able to choose ourselves. I don't need any more rules. Not even one.

[Bash]

That advisory panel recommends that anyone in a human-powered vessel, regardless of length, must wear a PFD.

I've noted, in my home waters, that kayakers universally wear life jackets, while rowers, especially those in shells, never wear them. Neither do the people in outrigger canoes, especially those racing Hawaiian style. It's as if each sub-culture within the rowing/paddling community has its own take on PFDs.

While collegiate sailors are required to wear PFDs at all regattas, those who race crew (rowing) don't even carry PFDs on their boats.

I'd much rather see each distinct sport set its own standards for safe participation. The USCG is considered one of the five branches of the US armed forces. I find it offensive that any branch of the military should be allowed to impose regulations on the civilian population, even for their own good. This is government at its worst.

[David M]

The Coasties used to be under the Department of Commerce for a number of good reasons. Making them a branch of the DOD was a mistake and illegal under the Posse Comitatus Act.

From Wikipedia: Posse Comitatus Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385) passed on June 18, 1878, after the end of Reconstruction, with the intention (in concert with the Insurrection Act of 1807) of substantially limiting the powers of the federal government to use the military for law enforcement. The Act prohibits members of the Army and Air Force from exercising nominally state law enforcement, police, or peace officer powers that maintain "law and order" on non-federal property

It's wrong for a branch of the military to have the power to able to tell civilian citizens what to do when there is no war on our soil. Civilians are supposed to be able to tell the military what to do through our elected representatives.