MA Bill mandating wearing of lifejackets ALWAYS in boats <20'
 

April 4, 2011

Dear Massachusetts BoatU.S. Member,

The Massachusetts State Legislature is considering a bill tomorrow that will require everyone, including adults, to wear lifejackets on boats under 20’ while in operation.

Currently in Massachusetts, life jackets must be onboard all boats, and worn by kids under 12, and worn by all who are waterskiing, on personal watercraft, or in canoe/kayaks in the winter. Our understanding of this legislation, House Bill 646, is that it will require everyone on boats less than 20’ to wear life jackets year-round.

BoatU.S. is a strong supporter of safe boating practices. We are emailing you because many BoatU.S. members have expressed significant concern about government mandating when and where adults must wear life jackets.

Given the immediacy of this issue in your state, we encourage you to contact your state Representative today and help them know how you feel about House Bill 646. This bill is being heard by the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security on Tuesday, April 5th at 1 pm.

For more information:
Bill language: Massachusetts House Bill 646

Click here to get your Representative’s contact information:
Elections: Voting ballot information

Please help us get the word out - forward this email to your boating friends and clubs. Thank you for being a BoatU.S. Member!

Margaret Podlich
Vice President, BoatU.S. Government Affairs
GovtAffairs@BoatUS.com
703-461-2878 x8363
BoatUS.com/Gov

This was sponsored by Vinne deMaceo of Plymouth, I thought he had a head on his shoulders. :smash: So much for thinking.

Thanks for the heads up.

Does not go far enough....I think adults should be mandated to wear type I life vests all the time, even on land, and at home too... just in case of a Tsunami. Probably should wear helmets all the time as well...just in case.:uhoh:

Seriously, I think forcing adults to comply will be a hard sell

Never know when you will fall in the toilet!:biglaugh:

Maybe it will save some lives for the accident prone ones with less common sense that don't have a death wish but are just clueless to danger.

I wear mine while on a boat, and sometimes on shore :D, but only in the surf.

can never be too careful, that Murphy's law is a tough one.

what's wrong with wearing a life jacket?

i have a 23' screw them!!

There is nothing wrong with wearing a life jacket, what is wrong is making a law. I feel the same way about seatbelts, I wear one, but hate the fact that it's a law.

What's next, no going out past your belly button at the beach, and if you do ... that's right, put that life preserver on ... :wall:

Gotta protect me from myself. Effing government is involved with every single aspect of my life.

Soon, they'll be telling me I can only wipe my ass in one direct and can only use a maximum of 3 sheets of 2-ply TP to wipe with.

Or if you go into ANY pool or body of water, life jacket MUST be worn.
Oh, and don't forget about the bathtub, because you never know when a swell will hit you while you're washing your junk!

Reminding us or recommending the use of a life jacket is fine, but MAKING us wear one whenever we even go near the water?
That's a little to much for my liking!

That's interesting. Wonder why the cutoff is 20'? I would think it's just as dangerous if you fall overboard from a larger vessel. This may cause my dad to reconsider downsizing from the 23'.

Yet, it's legal to drink alchohol on a boat.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

This is so STUPID!!! People die everyday from nitwits texting on the highway, talking on the phone, not paying attention, drinking, doing drugs. And now they want everyone in a less than 20' boat to wear a life jacket. I give up.:smash::smash::smash::smash:

Very stupid, good thing my boat is technically 20' 1" :p

soon every skiff will have a pulpit :rotf2:

I think everyone flying in a plane should have to wear parachutes...just in case!!!:smash:

That is absurd.
They evidentally can't enforce, or don't have the balls to enforce the other more dangerous boating distractions, but let's put all our weight behind a lifejacket law?
If they were to stop and fine every boat captain (For the sake of comparison: boats that would fall under this lifejacket law) that were or had been drinking while operating, they would clean up!
But they'd rather nickel and dime the average boater, on top of all the other idiotic rules, regulation and fees they have to endure!

It's like the IRS. They wouldn't life a finger going after multi-million dollar tax cheats, but put granny into the picture and they'll nail her to the wall for forgetting to claim her bingo winnings!

Sounds like more of the same!

That may not be a bad idea, especially if your next flight is on SW!

They're not "cool" apparently.

Hey, that's not fair... They have the best safety record in the world.
(At least that's how I make myself feel better since I have to fly SW to Orlando next month)

I flew home Sunday on Southwest, had a lot of scary thoughts on the flight back, the plane was bouncing all over the place when we turned at Block Island.
:wall: I hate to fly :wall: I hate to fly :wall: I hate to fly :wall:

Thats good for now if this passes but bet your arss if it passes, next it will be 30 ft then 40 ect.....

Jim you had me going for a second.

I am getting sick of law makers telling me what to do personally.
If I choose to fall off my boat and drown ITS MY OWN FREAKING BUSINESS.

Do I take risks? <<<HELL YES>>> I've been known to run with scissors too !!!! Are they going to make that a law?????

No I don't wear my seat belt either. Its my life let me live it the way I want. As long as I'm not hurting others so what ! Both these laws are BS !

I don't agree with the law (I like the idea of mandatory for kids though, even an inflatable as they get older) but not wearing a seatbelt is just idiotic.

except your family when you go through a windhsield

Let me re-phrase...I don't wear my seatbelt... unless I feel its needed. My 10mph drive to work in solid traffic every day NO.....Heading down I-95 with retards doing 80 all around me....YES...
When I started driving, most cars did not come with seatbelts...yet I'm still here.....

I don't wear my life jacket all the time, but I do when I'm out alone. I have auto inflatable for comfort and also have auto-tether.

These are by choice not by mandate. I think I am intelligent enough to make my own decisions on my safety.

fair enough.

I don't like the mandate either, but keep in mind, many on the water are not intelligent enough to make their own decisions on their safety

This biggest reason they are doing this IMHO is to make money$$$, new ways of taxing us, under the guise of safety. I wear a autoinflate PFD all the time on the boat, you never know when you could slip and wind up in the drink unconscious. If figure this way at least they can find the body so the wife get the life insurance payment ;)

Dangerous statement there. We should allow people to make their own decisions when it comes to their own safety. When it doesn't directly affect others, the government should stay the hell out of my personal choices. Common sense is a dying skill in this country because people are less and less expected to make correct decisions.

If we allow those too stupid to make the correct choice or be culled out, maybe we won't turn into the mindless society that depends on a nanny-state to tell us what's right and wrong.

Hold people accountable for their own choices, as opposed to expecting Uncle Scam to protect us from ourselves. If you don't want to wear a seatbelt in the car, then don't expect my insurance to pay for your smashed in face when you hit the windshield.

This can go down a loooooong some what political road ... and I don't want to derail this thread but....

you should then by rights charge $500/pack for cigarettes since my insurance has to deal with your lung cancer some outrageous fee for motorcycles, booze, cars, fatty foods, sodas, etc even condoms! anything that is viewed as dangerous by the white house.

Look, you guys voted in this big do-all government administration, you live with it. If you don't like this kind of oversight, the vote for the other party. IMO you got what you asked for. What kills me is you will vote the same way next election :wall:

Did you happen to check the letter after the sponsors names?

But:
I rear-end someone w/o a seatbelt on, and minor accident turns worse, and my insurance will cover it and my costs likely go up more.