Kayak Safety Bill

[Dee Hall]

The kayak safety bill was amended and passed the Senate last Thursday. The House is not in session so the only things that can be passed are items thet are considered to be "non controversial". We need people to call and e-mail their State reps that this bill is flawed and should be considered by the full House when it is back in session. Below is the text of what was ammended:

Mr. Barrios, Mr. O’Leary, Mr. Nuciforo, Mr. Lees and Mr. Tarr move to amend the bill (House, No. 4949) by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting in place thereof the following text:-

“SECTION 1. Chapter 90B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 5B the following section:-

Section 5C. Every person aboard a kayak, as defined in section 13B, shall wear at all times a Coast Guard approved personal floatation device of Type I, II or III, in good and serviceable condition.

SECTION 2. Section 11 of said chapter 90B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following clause:-

(q) Prescribe safety equipment required to be aboard any kayak, as defined in section 13B, however no such rule or regulation may exempt kayakers from the requirement to wear a personal flotation device as required by section 5C .

SECTION 3. Said chapter 90B is hereby further amended by inserting after section 13A the following section:—

Section 13B. (a) As used in this chapter, “kayak” means a lightweight boat that: (i) is covered, except for a single or double opening in the center thereof; and (ii) is propelled by a double bladed paddle.

( Anyone who holds himself out as a kayak instructor for hire shall obtain and maintain: (i) first aid training approved by the department of public health; (ii) cardiopulmonary resuscitation training approved by the department of public health; and (iii) kayak instructor certification from the American Canoe Association, American Red Cross certification in small craft safety and basic water rescue, or equivalent water training.

Any course of kayak instruction shall include, but not be limited to; (i) the safety procedures appropriate to the level of kayak paddling difficulty; and (ii) wet exit training, which training shall be conducted prior to a student operating a kayak unsupervised or in water deeper than 5 feet. Wet exit training shall consist of practice escaping from a kayak while submerged in a controlled water setting. Wet exit training shall not be required by this section if the kayak to be utilized by the student during the training is a sealed-hull, sit-on-top or open-decked kayak in which no part of the kayaker’s body is covered or enclosed within the cockpit, or center opening of the kayak.

A liability release that limits an instructor’s responsibility to comply with this section shall be void.”

[EEL]

>>

>Section 5C. Every person aboard a kayak, as defined in

>section 13B, shall wear at all times a Coast Guard approved

>personal floatation device of Type I, II or III, in good and

>serviceable condition.

Whatever happened to Type V?

>

>

>

>Any course of kayak instruction shall include,

Unless there is a definition somewhere that defines "course of instruction" as a commercial offering, this technically could apply to a rather broad range of activities by NSPN members.

Ed Lawson

[djlewis]

> (ii) wet exit training, which training shall be conducted prior to a

> student operating a kayak unsupervised or in water deeper than 5 feet.

Fabulous -- being in less than five feet of water will keep you safe if you can't wet exit -- yah, sure! And so will supervision, whatever that is.

--David.

[bob budd]

Senators

http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenus.htm

State Reps

http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenuh.htm

[Brian Nystrom]

This is what happens when people can't be bothered to get involved. Warnings about this were posted months ago and appear to have been largely ignored. This could have been avoided. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!

[alcoons]

I have written and called in the past and am willing to do so again. However, what would be helpful is a list of points that the club feels is inappropriate in the bill as written. What does not make sense and why? What does make sense or at least what can we live with? This needs to come from the leadership or a small, fast operating committee. This could take forever if they worry about the fine points, but what are the major problem?

We can then speak with one voice. We can in just a few minutes have our voices heard by using the sensible, collective wisdom of the club leadership.

Al

Al Coons

Eddyline Nighthawk

Red/White

[tedious]

>This is what happens when people can't be bothered to get

>involved. Warnings about this were posted months ago and

>appear to have been largely ignored. This could have been

>avoided. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!

I think that's a little harsh. Having lived in Massachusetts a long time, I don't think there's any amount of letter writing (or anything else for that matter) that will keep the legislature from passing boneheaded regulations.

T.

[Pintail]

I hope I might be forgiven for thinking that "passing legislation" is what the United States is all about? It often seems that way to an outsider...

It also seems the authorities, in their infinite wisdom, have forgotten about BCU coaching qualifications?

[rick stoehrer]

(iii) kayak instructor certification from the American Canoe Association, American Red Cross certification in small craft safety and basic water rescue, or equivalent water training.

i am assuming that this could refer to a BCU equivalency.

pfd's - are you kidding? racing on a table top sea? it offers nothing but additional dehydration. other than that, hard to argue against.

whistle - not effective on windy or bumpy days. why not a radio? why not flares? why not an epirb?

compass - but no chart? huh? and no education on the compass? how to use it?

the limited scope of the legislation makes you understand that these are folks making decisions about matters they don't fully understand.

so the legislation is either:

a)sincere and well intentioned but dumb that ultimately doesn't accomplish the warm, fuzzy goal - to make paddlers "safer"

- or -

B)a dog/pony show agenda item that regardless of reason is going to pass through.

if the legislature wanted to make an effort in assuring safety then educational outreach and not enforcement of ill drafted law would be more effective and they surely must understand that...this is just an illusion provided by the state senators and reps of their "doing something" to provide "us" "safety"

[Brian Nystrom]

This measure was originally tabled due to complaints from paddlers. Similar bills have been repeatedly defeated in other states due to public outcries. If you take a defeatest attitude and don't make your opinion known, you end up having to live with whatever the legislature gives you. If you're not willing to participate in the process, you have no right to complain about it.

Remember, it's a lot harder to get a bill repealed than it is to prevent it from passing in the first place.

[Dee Hall]

The whistle and compass are gone. The entire legislation is listed above.

-Dee