Re: overpower and inflatable
Liability wise....You are dead meat, in any court, in any state, if there is an accident, due to contributory liability based on exceeding the recommended hp plate. Your boat can be moored and you will still be considered partially responsible if a drunk on a jet ski rams you. It's not fair...It just is.
It is just a part of life, fair or unfair.
If there is an accident, and two cars are involved. One, a Lamborghini driven by a middle aged man, and the other Chevy Impala driven by a older woman. Even if the Impala was totally at fault, the news media will sight the highest possible top speed of the Lamborghini in it's report of the accident, even if it was going under the speed limit.
We as a society, love to pick on those that have something that is deemed outside the norm. There was a time when anything over 20MPH, on or off the water, was considered dangerous beyond belief.
In Germany the insurance companies have been trying for the last several years to categorize all recreational activities, and sports (Bicycling, Skiing, Swimming, Horseback Ridding, Boating, Fishing, etc.), as being dangerous, and not part of a normal persons life, therefore not being included in normal insurance coverage. You should be required by law to have to take out a special “Dangerous/Extreme Sports Policy” if you enjoy any outdoor activities.
The big surprise is that many older people (Germany has a very old average population) that no longer leave their apartments or living room loungers, think this is a great idea.
They (the insurance companies) pay heavily for government lobbyist to push for such changes, and the news media love to sensationalize even the smallest of accidents involving anything even a little out of the norm. The courts are starting to bow to pressure and to side with them in their fights not to pay in any sporting accidents.
A general attitude of punishing anyone who does something I don't, or can no longer do, prevails.
Sooner or latter it will also happen in the States (if it hasn't already).
America is also getting old, the baby boomer's are all retiring at once, and many have changed their lifestyles, shifting down a gear or two. They have more free time, and many no longer spend this time as they did, or would have, when they were younger. They expect all people, to now do as they do. This way of thinking plays right into the insurance companies hands.
I see it with my own Father, he always drove “Sports Cars” & was a very spirited driver, now that he can no longer do so, he complains on the highway about every car that passes him as being dangerous, and the speeding drivers should be severely punished & lose their drivers licenses. This is in spite of the fact, that he is snailing along at 45 or 50 in a 70MPH zone.
