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Friday, March 03, 2017

Bow Riding Ban Effort Derailed Temporarily; Legislature Will Have To Approve Quickly For Change This Summer

OCEAN CITY — If new regulations are going to be in place prohibiting bow-riding in Ocean City this summer, it will have to be approved as legislation and not by regulation as originally planned.

In the wake of several serious boating accidents in the resort last summer, including a fatal propeller strike that claimed the life of a child last August, Ocean City’s representatives in Annapolis, including Senator Jim Mathias and Delegate Mary Beth Carozza, began discussions in earnest with state boating officials, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and its enforcement wing the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) about tightening the dangerous practice of bow-riding.

Almost immediately after last August’s tragic fatality, Mathias was approached by a long-time veteran NRP officer who expressed a desire to get something stronger on the books regarding bow-riding. As it stands now, there is no specific language in state law regarding bow-riding and it is mired somewhat in the larger citation of reckless operation.

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like more "nanny-state" impairment of liberty.

Maybe they should also outlaw hunting because sometimes hunters shoot themselves or others. And then there are a lot of car accidents ...

Anonymous said...

whatever happened to personal responsibility ? what about parental responsibility ? what about common sense ?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, 12:44, the State knows what's best. The government ALWAYS know better than the average citizen because they use experts.

Anonymous said...

Laws of stupidity...those that keep stupid people from killing themselves.....

Anonymous said...

When my kids took the Safe Boating Course many years ago, I remember the instructor telling us it was illegal. I would never let them bow ride anyway. Darwinism at it's best.
Accidents don't happen... they're created. People who let their passengers bow ride are the same who would take a hairdryer into a bathtub. Any capt'n worth his salt would never let anyone bow ride.
So, now, they need to legislate it so stupid people know up front not to do stupid things.

Anonymous said...

The problem is that the teenagers running the waverunner and boat rental places give a 5-10 minute safety speech to people that have no business operating a motorized vessel on the water. Any idiot with a credit card can rent a boat, thnere is the problem.

Jim said...

Does anyone also know there is no bow on a pontoon boat? A front and back but no bow. Granted, you can fall off the front and get run over but not as easy as riding on a bow of a boat that has no railings,

Anonymous said...

piss off dnr, crawl back in your hole. Look over there some kid just caught an undersized crab, go git em barney!