When I think about the lake I think of fond memories that remind me of some of the greatest times with my friends. So what is it about the water that looks so easy to let people let go of their minds? When you drive a car you know that there are rules of the road. When you walk across the street you know to look both ways. When you enter someone else's home you know to wipe your feet. But the minute you step foot on a boat you lose your mind?
People have water dumbness. I am not blaming the alcohol either I drink plenty on the water, but my 35+ years of water memories all bring up visions of being careful, attentive, courteous, and polite. First of all I am a strong supporter of a "boating license." I myself am working on a 100 ton Master Captain's license, (of which I probably will never use commercially) so I believe in education and preparedness. I also think that law enforcement focuses on the wrong things. When you drive in a manner that could get someone hurt they have Negligent Driving, Reckless Driving, and Reckless Endangerment they have all kinds of fines to choose from to help modify stupid behavior. It seems like on the water they do not have anything to choose from but BWI (Boating While Intoxicated) or that is all they are educated on.
They do not seem to ever watch the traffic ways that are the busiest. They never just stop someone over to educate them, but just to harass them and see if they are drunk. I think that we really do ourselves a disservice by not putting the cops on the lakes in North Texas through more marine education. I have witnessed them put the people they are pulling over in danger and the boats that are anchored and the skippers that own them that are drunk in danger. The law enforcement on the water needs to be the best of the best, and need to be held to a higher standard than regular police. These officers are working with a 3 dimensional mode of transportation and you can not simply "pull over" and take everyone out of danger.
I do not see this as self evident, year after year I see the same officers doing the same things. Why is there not a better 'eye in the sky' to help them? Why do we live on the most dangerous lake in the state and with the most accidents and have the least amount of support and concern? Why does the Army Corp of Engineers not take more pride to mark the lake and keep it safe for navigation? There are little to no markings on the lake and they are done by private individuals. We need more money and better support from the Corp and from local law enforcement. They say that recreation is 3rd or 4th on their list. We are the ones that gave them that list 30-40 years ago. We are the ones that tell them what is important; we need to remind them that we are the reason for their existence and that our priorities on this lake have changed.
I wish that the large contingent of the population that receives enjoyment from safe and sane boating on Lake Lewisville and the many other Corp. lakes in the North Texas area would unite and let them know that we care about our families safety and make the simple changes that are needed so that everyone could enjoy the lake without worrying about becoming a fatality!
I do not know why we are 20 years behind the needs of the people but with the hundreds of thousands of people that enjoy our local lakes I think that safe recreation should be a paramount importance for local law enforcement, or they should close the lakes to everyone. There should not be a acceptable death rate on local lakes. It is not acceptable the way they are being secured, maintained and monitored. We would pay for a better recreational system and there are many ways to fund it so that we can all enjoy the lakes without fear or harassment (which is the alternative that is being employed). Make it miserable to party on the lake and you will run them off. (poor management of our resources)
I think we need to turn to better information/charts/markings and navigation buoys, better education for the lake goers and supporting cast (marina operators, law enforcement, coast guard auxiliary) and more support from the Corp on those that want to do business on or near the lake to attract the type of recreation that allows for lake goers to have a good time without sacrificing the other needs of the lake (water shed, erosion control etc)
Just thoughts from a crazy old pirate,
No comments:
Post a Comment