On Thursday, April 24, 2003, at 02:31 PM, Dave Kruger wrote: > "Geoff Jennings" <geoff_at_sedakayak.com> wrote: > >>> Off course, the difficulty is deeper than that. It would also be > necessary to know what percentage of the people who didn't die were > wearing > PFDs. In whitewater, it's VERY rare to see a kayaker without a PFD > on. > So I would imagine that the majority of deaths in ww would involve > people > wearing PFDs. > <snip> > Geoff has hit on one of the better ways to look at the data. Certainly > whether a person is wearing a PFD at time of drowning (or, __not__ > wearing > a PFD at time of drowning) might be important. But, it will take > sophisticated analysis to extract a __cause and effect__ relationship. > And, > perhaps, a sophisticated audience which will understand which analyses > are > bogus and which are not [of course, _we_ are all sophisticated, aren't > we?]. BTW, there is data out there that shows a correlation between boating safety classes and a reduction in fatalities. I think it is even harder to connect a cause and effect to this data, but legislators are happy to use it to justify mandatory boating safety classes. > Now, put those data into the hands of the typical state legislature, > and > apply the sophisticometer. What do you get? Half the time, some > pretty > silly laws, some based in ignorance, some based in stupidity > (inability to > use facts well). > > What should we do? Organize -- join ACA or a similar group that fits > your > preferences. Write our state legislator when obnoxious laws are > proposed. > Go to town meetings that focus on such legislation. The recommendation from the Coast Guard Recreational Boating Safety guy I talked to was to take actions that get the word out that there are risks with kayaking, and things like wearing a PFD and taking safety classes can help. It was his idea to invite the local news TV to paddle symposiums and give them telegenic pictures of people in the water struggling with getting back in. A short human interest spot on the local news discussing safety can reach a lot of people without much cost. It is probably better to get out front promoting safety than to try and fight off every stupid piece of legislation that comes along. Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 824 Thompson St Glastonbury, CT 06033 USA Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847 http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Apr 24 2003 - 13:05:21 PDT
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