Happily, we are not all LDS commercials, whatever that has to do with
it, but we still have to work together to get along safely. Reminds me
of the book, "Everything I needed to know, I learned in Kindergarten."
NYC XYZ wrote:
> Tinkerntom wrote:
> > I was out sailing the other day,
snip
>
> If only most folks were "Church of Latter-Day Saints" commercials like
> yourself! =)
>
> > Lesson, we can all get along,
snip
> No need to start a food fight!
>
> Indeed. People are so silly. So when talking to a child, I now talk
> on the child's level -- ergo this thread.
I feel for the child that you would talk to the way you yell and curse
on this NG! Makes we wonder if you ever had a good paddling experience,
or are you here just to complain. I would like to hear from you a
paddling report where you had a good time and came back refreshed and
refreshing!
>
> People here kept saying that "ooh, ultimately it's your
> responsibility"...so I guess a judge/insurance investigator/etc. should
> take the same tack and claim that the rowers died of their own
> recognizance!
>
> I swear...these paddler NGs are full of morons like the family of this
> speeding hit-and-run driver who killed a kid in NYC recently...the
> perp's family in court was screaming at the victim's family "why was
> your child biking riding on his own in the street?" and "why wasn't
> your child wearing a bicycle helmet?"
We had a hit and run here in Denver recently, where a small child was
hit, the driver stopped, looked back, and then took off! The boater in
this incident was hardly hit and run. He stuck around, rendered aid,
and saved three people. The captain of a larger boat would not have
even known that he hit a small craft. So these folks were very lucky to
have been rescued at all, and hence the necessity of small crafts to
avoid collisions!
>
> People are moronic. Despite having my light and hugging the shoreline,
> the paddler NG morons were saying I shouldn't have been out at night,
> out alone, should have had better lighting...
Moronic? Hugging the shore, is not necessarily the responsible thing to
do, especially if it put your vessel in jeopardy of not being seen in
the visual noise of the city lights. One small light is probably not
enough. It may meet the minimum legal requirement, but it is neverless
the minimum. The regs say that it is your futher responsibility to be
sure you are seen. Obviously you were not seen, and these scullers were
not seen.
Also whenever a vessel conducts a maneuver such as a turn, the vessel
loses the claim to right of way. That is just as much a part of the
regs as the part you are presenting that gives the right of way to a
paddled craft. The scull was in the process of turning, hence was
responsible to avoid a collision. Also they were responsible to post a
forward watch, which if they had, they should have seen the slow moving
power boat.
If one is moronic, it is the one that would claim that the power boat
is responsible to see the low profile scull, poorly lit, silently lost
in the background of city lights, and harbor shapes, when the scullers
evidently could not or did not see the powerboat, and crashed into the
side of the boat. I have no sense from the story, that the powerboater
chased down and ran over the scull. It was purely an accident, and all
are responsible to avoid a collision. A moron would expect the
powerboater to avoid a collision that he could not forsee was going to
occur.
snip
> > Common courtesy goes a long way. Take the high road when you can, be
> > willing to take the low road when necessary.
>
> Unfortunately, there is no "low road" when it comes to a
> paddleboat/motorboat match. That's where firearms are handy.
Unfortunately, whenever a firearm is introduced into a situation, there
are no more accidents, hence the law looks dimly on the one who
introduced the firearm into a public arena. Road rage is increasingly
occurring, and though you are irritated, I doubt that you could claim
self defense, when your first responsibilty is to avoid collision. You
should spend your time getting the hell out of the way, not slapping
leather! Because guaranteed, if you are in a small craft, your last act
of defiance, will be just that! We will be left to talk about it, but
you will likely be history!
snip
>
> It is a tricky proposition, to be sure...maybe I can just claim I
> misfired my flare at their on-rushing motorboat?
So you paddle around with your flare gun cocked and ready to fire! I
usually have trouble finding my waterbottle when I get thirsty! Why do
you even bother paddling, if you feel so threatened? I would suggest
that if your waterway is that dangerous, it would be much more
theraputic to go somewhere else, or take up knitting.
You would not have to worry about being run over by a motorist unless
you are knitting in rush hour traffic, which I saw the other day, while
coming home. I saw a lady knitting in the car next to me while
momentarily stopped in rush hour traffic. I am sure that she was
totally aware of the other traffic around her, and diligently watching
to avoid an accident! Yeah right!
>
> It's still unresolved what, exactly, a motorboat's responsibilities
> actually are. I think it's pure ******** that they seem to get the
> benefit of the doubt.
No one gets the benefit of the doubt, and I am sure the captain of the
powerboat feels badly, and will spend many restless nights thinking
about the man who lost his life. There is no indication that he was
some sort of powerboat assassin, but a regular working guy, who now has
to deal with a tragedy.
>If anything, that engine ought to be treated like a potentially
>dangerous weapon...if you kill someone with a car in NYS -- ueber-
>liberal assholes with their anti-gun laws -- you can escape with >community service...if you kill someone with a gun, it's a whole
>other story.
Guns don't Kill people, people kill people kill people!
Similarly, engines don't kill people,
and accidents happen.
You have a right to carry a firearm, though in NYC I am not sure that
carrying a handgun is approved, and a public display of firearms
discouraged. And of course for a law abiding, regulation supporting and
enforcing type as yourself, I am sure you would not want to be breaking
the law by packin' Iron! TnT
