Help vote down Lake Winni speed limit

[DMAX]

Hi guys I know this isn'nt really performance related.... Wait a minute.. Yes it is. We need help voteing down a the S.L. law on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. This is is the link WWW.SBONH.ORG (http://www.SBONH.ORG) for a petition, we need signitures. Please take a few minutes and sighn it if you could. Thanks See you at the Dust Off.:crossfing:

[piper_chuck]

It's been a while since I've been to NH. Do the license plates still say "Live Free or Die", or have they changed it to "Live the way we tell you or you'll get a ticket"? Sounds like it's become another nanny state full of regulations.

[hot shot]

Just signed

[Sam]

Good luck, this is worth fighting for :yes:.

[mike o]

It's been a while since I've been to NH. Do the license plates still say "Live Free or Die", or have they changed it to "Live the way we tell you or you'll get a ticket"? Sounds like it's become another nanny state full of regulations.They are trying..... you could be next. Thanks for your help.

[MOP]

I voted first day but did not post, have to keep you speed demons happy LOL

[LKSD]

Done.. ;)

[DMAX]

Thanks guys... We need all we can get. Thanks again. see you in the spring

[Fluffy Foo-Foo]

Done

[Marlin275]

Thanks for filling out our petition Charles, you're almost done!
Please confirm your signature by clicking on the link below

Sincerely
Safe Boaters of New Hampshire

[Ed Donnelly]

Did on the weekend........Ed

[MDonziM]

Done. Never been there, but if I do, hope to be boating at my own desired speed.

[Tank]

Done good luck!
Tank

[daved]

Just signed with pleasure... For years I wanted a fast boat and when I finally sell my 30' cruiser and get a 22 classic a speed limit law is imposed.
I think if people just use common sense and good judgement at high speeds things would be fine. Go after the nuckleheads..

[blackboat]

Signed

[Ghost]

Signed.

But what did I just sign? Is the petition text there and I missed it?

Mike

[joseph m. hahnl]

Signed.

But what did I just sign? Is the petition text there and I missed it?

Mike


:wink:
http://www.sbonh.org/phpPetitionTemplate/mm_spacer.gif


Information

“This amendment sets a 45/25 (day/night) speed limit and is designed to sunset on January 1, 2011. This interval will provide an adequate period of time to make pre/post speed limit comparisons.”
Rep Howard N. Cunningham (d) Carroll County District 3
writing the majority committee report on HB 847


Dear members of the New Hampshire General Court,

Soon you will be facing a piece of legislation filed by Senator Martha Fuller Clark that will ask you to make permanent the temporary speed limit on Lake Winnipesaukee.

Senator Fuller Clark has filed the bill that would change the intent of the study period that was clearly stated by Representative Cunningham when the bill was reported out of committee. WinnFABS, the group that imposed this law on Lake Winnipesaukee, publicly announced on August 3, 2009 in the Laconia Daily Sun that they were launching the campaign to make the law permanent, without study, after only fourteen (14) boating days between June 1, 2009 and August 3, 2009.

According to the National Weather Service there were only 14 days during that time period without rain and with a temperature of 70 degrees or above on Lake Winnipesaukee.

I ask you to defeat this measure and allow the two year trial period to play out allowing the New Hampshire Department of Public Safety to collect and review the data, then report to you, the legislature, on whether this law is practical or needed. I, and a majority of boaters on Lake Winnipesaukee, strongly believe this law is not only unnecessary but is a detriment to the economy of the Lakes Region, New Hampshire and will cause an unnecessary financial drain on the New Hampshire Marine Patrol.

A vocal minority has convinced a majority of you that Lake Winnipesaukee is and has been a lawless and dangerous place for years however when you take the time to look at the facts, and the laws that have been in place for years, you will understand that they have been doing nothing more than creating the illusion for their own narrow agenda.

New Hampshire has a boating regulation called Safe Passage. For those of you who are not boaters it simply means that when a boater comes within 150 feet of pretty much any object, be it another boat, swimmer, shore, no wake zone etc. they are REQUIRED to cut their speed to no more than 6 miles an hour! This is a uniquely New Hampshire law! Few states have it and it has gone a long way toward making New Hampshire the safest place to boat in New England and among the safest places to boat in the United States of America! Please take the time to read this NH Department of Safety Services Press Release of August 2009 for verification!
http://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/ss/090817.html (http://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/ss/090817.html)

In spite of the overwhelming amount of rhetoric that has been coming from supporters of the speed limit even those that patrol the waters of New Hampshire have stated it is an unnecessary law and a snapshot of Lake Winnipesaukee during the 2007 boating season conducted by the New Hampshire Marine patrol showed that fewer than 1% of the boats clocked by radar were traveling in excess of the then proposed speed limit. Only a single ticket for speeding and 26 warnings have been issued by the NH Marine patrol in the 2009 boating season.
http://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/ss/marinepatrol/activity.html (http://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/ss/marinepatrol/activity.html)

The 2009 activity report by the NH Marine Patrol linked above re-enforces the conclusion of boating experts that speed has not been a problem on Lake Winnipesaukee in the past and it is currently not a problem. Please take time to read the New Hampshire Marine Patrol report of their 2007 speed study on Lake Winnipesaukee!
http://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/s...eedsurvey.html (http://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/ss/marinepatrol/speedsurvey.html)

New Hampshire’s boating safety record prior to speed limits on Lake Winnipesaukee exceeds those of any other New England state according to the United States Coast Guard. Advocates for imposing this unnecessary law on New Hampshire boaters routinely search the internet for stories of tragic accidents in other parts of the country, and in some cases in other countries, and try to say this could happen here! However they ignore the existing laws that keep our waterways safe. Laws that do not exist in the parts of the country and elsewhere that they continue to try to compare with New Hampshire.

Below is a link to the United States Coast Guard Boating Statistics. You will see that of the 96,205 boats registered in New Hampshire in 2008, AFTER mandatory boater education was required to boat in New Hampshire but BEFORE speed limits went into effect only on Lake Winnipesaukee only 28 vessels were involved in accidents!

That is a ratio of 0.00028% of New Hampshire registered boats and does not include transient boaters from out-of-state that visit New Hampshire so that number is actually even lower! A state by state comparison, including New Hampshire begins on page 54 of the link to the US Coast Guard Boating Statistics below.
http://www.uscgboating.org/assets/1/...stics_2008.pdf (http://www.uscgboating.org/assets/1/Publications/Boating_Statistics_2008.pdf)

Finally, I want to bring to your attention the economic impact of an unnecessary boating law and the dangers that law poses especially in light of the down economy in New Hampshire.

The following is a link to a comprehensive study conducted in 2003 that shows the economic impact of boating, fishing and swimming in New Hampshire. Keep in mind this study is in 2002 dollars. Creating an atmosphere that implies New Hampshire is no longer friendly or welcoming to tourists is a very dangerous economic road to begin to travel.
http://www.nhlakes.org/docs/EcoStudyPhaseII.pdf (http://www.nhlakes.org/docs/EcoStudyPhaseII.pdf)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the General Court I ask you to defeat the proposal by Senator Fuller Clark that would make the speed limit on Lake Winnipesaukee permanent without study.

Allow the law to run its course giving the New Hampshire Marine Patrol the time needed to evaluate the need for the law, as the law intended.

Thank you for your consideration.

[Ghost]

thanks

[1929rats]

done!

[LeadSledMerc]

signed it a couple of days ago.

[Bamboo Loui]

Signed:crossfing:

[andrewz9876]

signed

[juststartinout]

Done. Thanks for bring this to our attention

[ALF]

Done

Enough regulations and restrictions. This is politics VS common sense.

[oledawg]

Signed it a week or two ago! Anyone know how many signatures it has now?

[mphatc]

556 . . . averaging ~~ 25 per day . . .

We really need to promote this to all or friends!!! Everyone who either likes to go fast, our biking buddies, coworkers, anyone!!!. .

Your help is appreciated!!

Mario L.

[AR-Cougar]

Done.
Signature 592 just in.
Good luck.

[HIGH LIFE]

Done

[oceanriverman]

Done

[Uncle Richie]

We don't need Limits.

[ChristopherL]

Signed, and passing along to all the people I know who have a vested interest!
What good is having a father with 2 cool toys if I can't exploit their merits?!?!? :kingme:

-Chris L.

[FASTEDDIE]

Signed. Total now is 852 signatures.
Fasteddie of :yes: Lake George
2001 Winner of Lake Winnipesaukee Donzi Club Poker Run

[ChristopherL]

http://concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100225/FRONTPAGE/2250358
Local article in the paper today. Some of the comments cited in the article demonstrate the ignorance behind this motion.


Note this comment posted below the article:

"I heard about this organization called “Winnfabs”, their website states “WinnFABS was formed by a group of citizens who love Lake Winnipesaukee and who want to ensure SAFE family boating and preserve the beauty and serenity of the lake for present and future generations”. Sound’s good. Who wouldn't want to be part of that? Turns out it is just a front for a small group of well funded out of State people who want to control who is allowed to boat on Lake Winnipesaukee and in what type, size, and horsepower of vessel. Even worse, most members of Winnfabs are NOT New Hampshire Residents!
The real reason Winnfabs exist’s is simple, the following comment was made by Rep. Jim Pilliod who originally started the push for a speed limit on Lake Winnipesaukee a few years ago on behalf on Winnfabs “It has nothing to do with death rate, or safety or anything else, the numbers of arrests for speed and all the rest of it. It has to with a lack of courtesy on the part of the, I'll call them ocean going vessels, like your own, the Donzi’s and the rest of them. Because you can go faster does not mean that you should. In any case if you do why don’t you go on the ocean which these boat/boats were designed for”. That statement should make it very clear what the real agenda is here for the Winnfabs supporters. A truer name for Winnfabs should be “ Winnfibs”.
It is critical you contact members of the New Hampshire Senate and ask that they kill SB 464 and allow the New Hampshire Marine Patrol to gather the data needed. The New Hampshire Marine Patrol, the experts (not Winnfabs) on boating in New Hampshire, say there was not enough data collected in 2009 to make a recommendation on the law and they want to evaluate the data from the full two year study period. New Hampshire Marine Patrol Captain Mark Gallagher was quoted in the Laconia Citizen January 21, 2010, "This past summer there wasn'null enough activity to get the real impact".
Also please consider supporting Safe Boaters of New Hampshire www.sbonh.org (http://www.sbonh.org/), the organization that is fighting for the rights of ALL New Hampshire boaters."


-Chris

[Tidbart]

983 and counting.

[DC18]

Signed today. 1002 signed to date. Five signed today. Will pass this on.

[FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack]

Done. #1022