busted by marine patrol

[JasonJ]

Re: busted by marine patrol

Just sliding off of the road would not be enough for me. i have done a lot of winter driving, and I know that you can get in trouble even at 5 mph on black ice. That being said, I would look at the individual's equipment. If he is driving on tires that do not work well on snow and ice, I will have a conversation with him on the benefits of studded or studless snow tires. If he is wrapped around a telephone pole, well, he was going too fast, and gets a cite. If he is just in a ditch, well, the tow bill and inconvenience is punishment enough. Hopefully he'll get smart and equip himself properly for conditons...

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: busted by marine patrol

Damn you guys have alot of rules on the water in the US one of these days they are gonna set up speed traps on the water .... they will probably give me the death penalty there for the way I drive ......

They already do that here on lakes at night....30 MPH on Lake of the Ozarks and they do have radar....

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: busted by marine patrol

mad in NH, You sort of imply in your first post that you were indeed less than 150' from the other boat and if overtaking, odds are good you were above headway speed. That's against the law here and really does not need any sort of interpretation.

I think it's a silly law, but the MP was just doing his job. Winnipesaukee has some pretty strict marine law enforcement. It is unlike any other lake or water way I have ever been on. Still love the place though. Just gotta know where the crowds aren't.

If I were an MP, I'd probably just issue a warning unless you were a jerk. Were you polite and respectful? That usually goes a long way with folks like that, even if it's not earned.

 

[uscboy]

Re: busted by marine patrol

If you slid off the road, then you were driving too fast for the conditions = speeding.

I bet I'm not the only one here that's glad you're not a cop.

He's right though... at least in Michigan. Violation of
Basic Speeding Law. Too fast for conditions. Even if
you were going 5mph in a 55mph zone, it's still called
speeding if it's icy and you end up in a ditch.

As for the original poster, just pay the cheap $68 fine
and call it a lesson. Court would be a huge waste of
money... on the water, it seems to me laws are written
where it's at the discretion of the officer. Hard to fight
that. Doesn't make the guy right for doing it though, but
hating cops who abuse their authority (most in my
experience) is a whole other topic.

 

[dancerscap]

Re: busted by marine patrol

The boat being passed doesn't have to complain. All the officer has to do is articulate that based on his training and experience (a rookie fresh out of academy has more training and experience than a civilian) the boat doing the passing is being operated in an unsafe manner. The easiest way to not get tickets is to not drive unsafely. All that boat had to do is make a turn, and the boat doing the passing would be screwed. There are a lot of boaters out there that only look ahead, they never look behind them or to the sides. This is why the ticket was issued, there was little reaction gap left if that boat decided to make a sudden turn. We've all seen it, a boat cruising along makes a sudden turn for no apparant reason. That is why I stay away from other boats, and I never pass other boats. People are too unpredictable on the water.

The vessel being overtaken is the stand on vessel and has a responsibility to maintain course and speed. If vessel being overtaken turned and caused a collision it would be the overtaken vessels responsibility. But in reality mad in NH is probably just singled out to help with finances. Safety is no longer an issue, it's all about raising revenue. Cops are just undercover tax collectors now.

 

[Terry Olson]

Re: busted by marine patrol

Law enforcement, in the interest of being "responsive" to the public, all too often invest their time and resources where they receive the most complaints. In other words, they focus on the activities and locations the public complains about. No one cares about that meth lab at the end of the block until it affects them - but - they want something done about those speeding cars, meaning everyone else's speeding cars.

In this case the waterways mentioned must represent a high level of citizen complaints about boating infractions?

Either way it's a rare day when someone getting a ticket is undeserving of it. I believe that we're so used to getting by with something without a ticket that the day we catch one we're surprised about it. Hardly sounds like overzealous law enforcement - if that were the case we'd all know each and every violation with specificity.

How bad could it be if the original poster didn't even know the law with respect to the violation? First time out on that water? I doubt it, just first ticket there. What do you figure, 100 violations for every ticket? 1,000 maybe? Just pay it - if you're human you've earned it somewhere along the lines, if not in this instance. You'll spend more on ice this summer than the $68.oo fine, pay it, move on, and quit playing the victim.