Is it time to make life-jacket use mandatory in boats?

[agentaqua]

By some estimates, making boaters wear their life-jackets could save 100 lives a year in Canada
CBC News Posted: Jul 30, 2016 5:00 AM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/boating-lifejackets-mandatory-1.3700778

 

[finaddict]

Well that would certainly look funny on the ferries............

 

[agentaqua]

Not if you were on the Queen of the North...

 

[aheny]

I strongly believe that life jackets should be mandatory for children under the age of x. (People who work in marine safety could figure out what the appropriate age is)

 

[agentaqua]

The way I've always worked it is that if there is a chance of falling overboard (i.e. open boat) - I always wear a PFD. There's some comfortable styles/models out there now. Kids - always...

 

[Fixit]

i think it should be up to the individual to make their own informed decision. let Darwin take care of the rest

 

[Olde School]

Fixit that is the post of the day!

 

[gungadin]

My wife has told me that I have to wear a life jacket everytime. She says she needs to have closure if I should go overboard.

 

[agentaqua]

i think it should be up to the individual to make their own informed decision. let Darwin take care of the rest

Darwin Awards. Chlorinating The Gene Pool.
www.darwinawards.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheDarwinAwards/

 

[agentaqua]

My wife has told me that I have to wear a life jacket everytime. She says she needs to have closure if I should go overboard.

Maybe her insurance policy says there needs to be a body for a death certificate?

 

[casper5280]

Problem is we keep putting all these warning labels on things thus saving all the Darwin Types and they continue to breed and we keep getting dumber and dumber people. In the old days we just thinned the herd. Lol. All kidding aside wouldn't bother me a bit if it became mandatory to wear them. Personally, I think all children should wear them and on my boat they do.

 

[sly_karma]

Everyone on my boat wears one. But I prefer education to legislation. For the latter to be effective, we need to spend money on the former anyway. Why not just run decently funded longterm awareness campaigns and let the legislators do something useful like stop bombing Syria?

 

[tinboatrobb]

On my boat they are mandatory. if you do not want to put one on you don;t come aboard. My boat is a 14.5 Lund and my fist goal is the safety of any passengers.

 

[Canso]

i think it should be up to the individual to make their own informed decision. let Darwin take care of the rest

Problem is, Darwin never put a lifejacket on his 4 year old, and the boy went over.

 

[finaddict]

Not if you were on the Queen of the North...

Good point

 

[KV1]

What's next? Thinks about it why stop there

 

[bigbruce]

Seat belts in cars are mandatory, why not life jackets in boats? They are mandatory on my boat.

 

[noluck]

in my go fast boat everyone puts on a jacket, but i do not enforce on my fishing boat

 

[TheBigGuy]

No offense, but I'm a big guy and I sweat pretty profusely in the sun with even a shirt on. One of the things I enjoy the most about being on the water is a nice warm sunny day with my shirt off enjoying what little sun (and opportunities we have to sun tan in BC). I would be so uncomfortable on a hot a day sweating like I'd just been doused that I wouldn't even want to be on the water anymore. I'll leave wearing life jackets in 85 degree weather for the anemics, geriatrics, kids, and toothpicks who might blow overboard in a stiff breeze.

I go fishing to enjoy myself. Personally, that would ruin being on the water for me. In all frankness, if I want to go bare titles in what little sun we get in this province I'm going to do that. I'll pay the tickets, or sell my boat before I start doing that in hot weather.

 

[finaddict]

Ok I'll wade into this pool.......sans lifejacket.............For the past 40 years we have been inundated with more rules and regulations to help protect ourselves from ourselves. I think that for the past 20, it has gotten completely out of control. I really believe that there are many civil servants out there who can only justify their jobs if they legislate legislate legislate. Some of those rules have been a good idea and I support them (i.e. seat belts). As far as running a safe boat, I actually have more safety equipment on my boat than 99% of small boaters, I know how to use it and I will insist on the use of life jackets when the inclement weather makes sense. But to force me to wear a life jacket in the middle of summer in the heat of the day on an glass calm ocean just because there are too many idiots with no experience out on the water who fall in their fly open and their mind full of alcohol and or other drugs? Not going to happen.

I also subscribe to Darwinian application.