Do you think PFD's should be manditory under certain scenarios?

[Scott Danforth]

most men retrieved from the water fell overboard when relieving themselves.....while intoxicated.

PFD's should be mandatory, either the big-bulky ones or the auto-inflate ones

 

[bobofthenorth]

No - an emphatic no. We've got too many feel good laws already.

The problem with this one is that jurisdictions will see it as a revenue opportunity. They already do wherever the PFD laws are in effect and more laws will just lead to more nitwit water cops. If someone is too stupid to put PFDs on their kids they deserve to lose them. And don't tell me the kids don't deserve that because, absent enforcement, they won't be wearing the PFD anyway, which brings us back to my central point. Society can't regulate common sense, no matter how hard it tries.

Most of the time where we boat the water is cold enough that the only thing a PFD will do is make it easier to retrieve the corpse.

 

[GA_Boater]

If someone is too stupid to put PFDs on their kids they deserve to lose them.

That's more than a little harsh. In many cases kids need the protection because the parents are stupid and don't think.

Falling into cold water doesn't mean instant death and there are too many stories about youngsters surviving fairly long cold water dunks.

 

[Rich672]

I don't think PFD's should be mandatory. That said I prefer everyone on my boat put one on. I wear an inflatable and have found after its on for 10 minutes, I don't even realize I have one on. I am older (and wiser) now and after being on the water for over 50 years, things happen fast. All you have to do is bang your head and it lights out no matter how good a swimmer you are. We always keep a head count when we are out to see how many adults actually wear them. Most times he count is zero.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

That's more than a little harsh. In many cases kids need the protection because the parents are stupid and don't think.

Falling into cold water doesn't mean instant death and there are too many stories about youngsters surviving fairly long cold water dunks.

There is an article in The Toronto Star that tells of a woman that was submerged under water for 35 minutes and it was 60 minutes when she was brought back from the dead after crashing on the 401 outside Kitchener On. Because of the freezing water temperature, the cold water saved her She was mostly dead not all dead as Billy Crystals character said in The Princess Bride. So no hypothermia doesn't always kill, especially for children. . But I have to tell you when I fell through the ice when icefishing I thought I was having a heart attack and was going to die.

There are inflatables today meant for cold waters. Coast Guard and Navy wear them.

 

[Davetowz]

No! But boaters need to use common sense, I know that is a reach. There are times when a pfd is a must. There are times when a Type! pfd is a must. However there is no need to legislate it. Darwin needs work too.

 

[lmuss53]

When it comes to drownings and especially cold water drownings, my nurse friend says the saying in ED is "no one is dead, until they're warm and dead."

 

[dwco5051]

With the recent posts on ice safety I thought that I would add this short clip on ice rescue I just received from an old friend. My how the equipment has changed. When I first took this class about 35 year ago we were using only immersion suits that were donated by a great lakes shipping company that would not pass inspection. The problem was leaks where three hems met together, usually in the armpits or crotch. No helmets or pfds. However the buoyancy provided by the suits made self rescue much easier than it would be in real life, a point I would always tell the students. Now that I can almost reach out and touch 80 I would not even try it today but back then I made as many classes as I could and enjoyed every on of them.

 

[JimS123]

Things that effect other people should be mandated. If its strictly a personal thing, then it should be left up to personal responsibility.

Massive injuries due to non-seat-belt usage affects everybody because of higher insurance premiums.
Children injured in accidents are the fault of their parents since they are too young to be responsible for themselves.
Drowning because of non-PFD usage should be on the person, not society.

Personally, I wear a PFD AND the shutoff lanyard whenever I'm in the boat.

I have always been against licencing, but then again I learned to drive a boat when I was 5 years old, and have taken the "course" 3 times. The idiots on the water have made me change my mind.

Forget about the PFD discussion - let the person of legal age decide for themselves. However, boat driver's licencing should be mandatory.
And furthermore, it should be a law that all autos be equipped with blocking devices that make cellphone use impossible if the engine is running. That DOES affect others, not just the idiot juvenile on the phone.

 

[Ken Kitchen]

On my pontoon, I have pfd's for everyone stored under the seats..On my bass boat, I wear an inflatable and anyone with me also wears one...no questions asked.. You don't feel you should have to wear one..you stay onshore.

 

[Doh]

It is either Mandatory, or isn't. It would be to hard to regulate "What a Storm is, Wave Height, Unsafe conditions"

Much of my Boating, a PFD would only help in Recovery. Water temp would cause hypothermia. That being said, I have never been in a position, but I know people who have. Some have made it, others haven't. Most often, for both Male and Female has been releaving their self over the side of the boat. Bad conditions, I would just hold it or tinkle in the boat.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Forgot about this thread, thank you for the insightful comments. As far as deaths due to relieving themselves when the odd time my wife is out with me I rigged a 5 gallon pail with a toilet seat on it for her. I use the Javex bottle with the top cut off. As far as making a 2 pile hold it or fast for 12 hours prior to leaving the dock. My buddy uses the pail in his boat, regularly, something I never want to hear again let alone smell or see it going over the side. I don't want to talk about it.