T&T: New Jersey law and boating safety class requirement

[Jim Boyd]

I see we have strong feelings on both ends of this discussion.  Let's step
back a bit and take a logical approach to this.


It seems logical that no State should have the right to impose more
restrictive rules than existing Federal requirements.  However, that is
currently being done Nationwide on several issues.  For example, "the right
to bear arms".  While the Constitution grants the right to bear arms,
individual States adopt their own laws that restrict, sometimes severely,
the ability of the average citizen to carry a firearm.  Now I'm not
attempting to start a political firestorm regarding 2nd Amendment Rights -
I'm merely using it as an example.

Another example is registering a boat over 40 feet.  (I believe that is the
length).  The Federal Gov requires that the boat is Federally documented and
that  Federal Documentation is accepted in many jurisdictions, however,
several States require that you also register the boat in their State if you
use the boat in their jurisdiction so many days a year.

Let's also look at individual States and how they differ regarding Vehicles
and Transportation issues.  Until fairly recent, a few States permitted kids
as young as 14 to get a permit to drive a car.  They were permitted to drive
that car in the State in which they were licensed but could/would be
arrested if they crossed the State Line.  In some States, trailers less than
7,000 lbs did not need to be registered to be operated on the highway.  Yet,
if you crossed into a State that did require registration for those trailers
you could be arrested.

In some States barbers and hairdressers, auto dealers, mechanics and other
occupations need to be State licensed to perform their trade.  In other
States they merely need to be certified and in some States they would need
nothing but customers to ply their trade.

So, we have determined that, while it does not appear to be fair, some
States choose to arbitrarily impose outrageous requirements that severely
impact our desire to have fun in the sun by mandating that boat operators
must take time out from their precious leisure time to take a Safe Boating
course.  How Dare They!!!

There is a solution - have the USCG devise a Federally mandated boating
course that includes not only theory such as "Rules of the Road", "Safe
Boating", etc... but also hands on boat handling skills, just as we did for
our driver license.  You could even have a graduated testing for types of
boats (trawlers, sail, PWC), size of vehicles (Up to 5,000 lbs - 5,000 to
20,000, 20k to 50k,, etc...) and others.  Make the Law firm that no State
can make law that would add additional requirements and there it is.  That
simple...

This would be simple to implement as we already have the infrastructure in
place for training and testing - USPS and USCG Auxilliary.



Jim Boyd
"Lark"
42 Californian LRC

-----Original Message-----
From: trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces at lists.samurai.com
[mailto:trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces at lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of Mark
Richter
Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2009 7:49 PM
To: 'Trawlers and Trawlering'
Subject: Re: T&T: New Jersey law and boating safety class requirement

<<I meant that it is arrogant of New
Jersey to require out-of-state, transient boaters to comply with a state
law. We should have a uniform federal law covering this.>>

It's not only arrogant, but unconstitutional.  One of the basic tenants of 
our federal system is that each state must respect the rights of residents 
of other states.  If my boat is legal in Florida, it is legal in all 
50states.  If I am a legal boat driver in Florida, I am legal to drive my 
boat in all 50 states.  Some 10 or 15 years ago, Florida passed a law 
charging a $300 additional tax to register an out-of-state motor vehicle in 
Florida.  I said to myself, "that's blatently unconsitutional,  It'll never 
pass muster".  4 years later, the law was found unconstitutional, and the 
state had to refund the tax to those who had paid it.

What if Florida decided that drivers licenses from New Jersey weren't good 
enough for Florida?  We'd just stop all the New Jersey cars at the border, 
ticket and fine the drivers for having the temerity to visit Florida without

having passed OUR drivers license test.  There would soon be reciprocal 
harrassment, and the country would devolve into 50 small warring states.

Mark Richter, m/v Winnie the Pooh, Ortona, FL on the Okeechobee Waterway 
_______________________________________________
http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers-and-trawlering

To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options (get password, change
email address, etc) go to:
http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/options/trawlers-and-trawlering

Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World
Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited.