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Mandatory PFD Use?

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by brianwill, Aug 23, 2004.

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  1. brianwill, Aug 23, 2004
    #1
    brianwill

    brianwill New Member

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    Has anyone jumped in on the mandatory PFD use rule that the NTSB is proposing? I guess it is irrespective of size, so if I'm on the hook with a few friends we all need to have a PFD on if the NTSB gets it's way. On a 46' boat (or any boat if you're a sane, sober adult) this isn't necessary.

    We can voice our opinions at www.ntsb.gov.
  2. YachtForums, Aug 23, 2004
    #2
    YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    I looked all over the NTSB site and I can't find the proposal. Have you got a direct URL on this? I don't know what's more infuriating... a proposal like this or navigating .gov websites!
  3. brianwill, Aug 23, 2004
    #3
    brianwill

    brianwill New Member

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    Carl,

    Try here: http://www.ntsb.gov/academy/CourseInfo/MS701_200408.htm

    The discussion is Wednesday and will be webcast.

    Here is the text from their agenda:

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 24, 2004 SB-04-13
    SAFETY BOARD TO HOLD FORUM ON PERSONAL FLOTATION DEVICES


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Washington, D. C. -The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public forum to discuss mandatory wear of personal flotation devices (PFD) on recreational boats, NTSB Chairman Ellen Engleman Conners has announced. The one-day forum will begin at 9:00 am on August 25, 2004 at the NTSB Academy in Ashburn, VA.

    The purpose of the forum is to gather all available data, and to promote an open and informative discussion of policy issues related to mandatory PFD use. The Safety Board has a long history of working to improve recreational boating safety. It has been on the Board's "Most Wanted" list of transportation safety improvements since its inception in 1990.

    "The Board has made a solid commitment to advance recreational boating safety by all means available to our agency," said Chairman Engleman Conners. "A public forum will be an excellent mechanism to bring together agencies and organizations to identify solutions that will improve public safety in recreational boating."

    Coast Guard statistics show that 750 boaters died in 2002. Eighty-five percent of those who drowned were not wearing PFDs, even though in many cases, PFDs were aboard. These statistics have been consistent from year to year and Coast Guard statistics show that approximately 450 lives could be saved each year if the victims wore PFDs. The Safety Board wants to build on this information and other data available to evaluate the safety benefits of mandatory wearing of PFDs on recreational boating.

    Currently, most States require PFD wear for children and for personal watercraft operators. No State requires PFD wear for all occupants. Yet six years of observational studies by the Coast Guard show that less than 5% of adults in open boats wear PFDs.

    Some of the issues discussed at the forum will be:

    The impact of federal and/or state legislation mandating wearing of PFDs on recreational boats
    Various vessels and type of operation that should be included in or exempted from mandatory wear rules
    New PFD technology
    Alternatives to mandatory wear rules

    Registration details for the forum and directions to the Academy may be found on the Board's website at www.ntsb.gov.

    NTSB Media Contact: Keith Holloway, (202) 314-6100
    hollowk@ntsb.gov
  4. YachtForums, Aug 26, 2004
    #4
    YachtForums

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    Does Big Brother really think we are all so irresponsible that they have to mandate a dress code for us? I think a better alternative would be boater licensing. Safe boating really comes down to common sense. If there were a place to purchase common sense, that should be a USCG/NTSB requirement.
  5. YachtForums, Aug 31, 2004
    #5
    YachtForums

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    Boating Industry

    Tuesday August 31, 2004

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A proposal to require mandatory use of personal floatation devices met with near unanimous opposition from the recreational boating community during a forum conducted last week by the National Transportation Safety Board, BoatU.S. said in a press release today.

    The forum was convened to seek input regarding the proposal – which would have required boaters to wear a life jacket while underway in a boat – but ended with little support for the idea, Boat U.S. said.

    Speaking before a crowded auditorium filled with boating safety experts, federal and state officials and interest group representatives, Boat U.S. president Jim Ellis urged boaters to wear their life jackets when necessary, but argued for a new generation of inexpensive personal flotation devices.

    Ellis said new PFD’s – which boaters would actually wear rather than stow in a locker on board a boat – were needed to reduce the number of drownings.

    Boat U.S. said of the approximately 700 boating fatalities each year, about 400 are drownings in which the victim was not wearing a life jacket. It is estimated that as many as 75 million Americans go boating at least once each year and that the cost to the boating public of having to purchase a life jacket they would actually wear could exceed $1 billion.

    "Forcing all boaters to wear an uncomfortable life jacket on a hot day when there is no perceived risk has little support among the boating public," said Ellis, in releasing the results of a survey conducted last month by the Recreational Marine Research Center of Michigan State University at the request of BoatU.S.

    According to the survey of nearly 10,000 boaters, 86 percent of those responding opposed a mandatory life jacket requirement.

    "A broad-brush, one-size-fits-all approach will not solve this problem," said Ellis who urged the NTSB and the Coast Guard to conduct more thorough research on the causes of boating fatalities before issuing more regulations