Quote:
Originally Posted by daceman63
I'm glad you beat your ticket.
Having said that, the best way to approach anything is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. You never know what surprises boating can throw your way. The best was to ensure you are prepared is to follow the rules, keep your equipment updated and get a free coast guard auxilary inspection each year. I do my inspection and make sure everything is working correctly and then they do their. At the very least they give excellent tips and information and updates to safety regualtion and reminders of existing ones. All these guys are boaters too looking out for the safety of all. On top of that it inly takes about 20 minutes and when you get pulled over usually one glance at that sticker and you get a wave and a "have a nice day".....
You mentioned you are an inland waterway boater....they have a nice safety course geared toward that style of boating as well.
IMO the cop was doing his job and although he may have gotten his point across with a warning, he most assuredly got your attention with the ticket.
Even though your explanation that you don't need your lights during the day is true it won't cover you for the "what if". I have a jack and a spare in my car. I don't have any flat tires. But then if I don't have that equipment "what if"....
|
You obviously don't winter striper fish by boat. For "safety" reasons (my own), which is partly what the regs are all about, I don't plan winter fishing trips after the sun goes down, during rainy weather and I can't even remember a foggy winter day fishing. I tried to make that point at the time he wrote me up, but he wanted to strut his stuff. Trust me, I have everthing I need to be safe, spare clothes should someone go in, life jackets which I insist guests wear, kill switch clipped on.
This EP officer wrote me up for a violation I didn't commit and I took great pleasure in pointing that out, using their own printed manual as evidence.
Threaded Mode