[Mee-n-Mac]

Read the title of this post and think. A SL accomplishes no more that it can enforce, perhaps a SL of 45 mph. For some this is a potential means to an end, and I just wish they would be more forthcoming and admit it. For others they believe (I think mistakenly) it'll have some effect on safety. Let me address this for a moment ...

Certainly excess speed (?? hmmm excess ??) can produce tragic results, sometimes involving the innocent users of the lake. Othertimes it may just be annoying. I ask,what is what is excessive speed* ... can it be defined be a single number ? In our automotive life we see many SL's, those appropriate for the town and those appropriate (? well let's not argue this for a moment ?) for our interstates. So is the lake a town road or a highway ? Is a 45 mph limit appropriate for this town/highway ? I believe the lake is neither town nor interstate, at times it's more of the former (in areas and at times) and at the same time more of the latter (in other areas). A one-fix-fits-all solution is just wrong IMHO, unless you agree that restriction for all must serve the most restrictive case (so much for liberty). I there any data that supports that a SL, realistically enforced, would have any real effect on the lake ? I believe (you can disagree, hopefully a rational discussion may ensue) that people who operate a boat w/o due regard to other's won't be much changed by a SL, same as SL's haven't changed the speed on our highways. I believe that more enforcement, at those places and times where speed is an issue, would have a much more benefittial effect than would any SL. Let me be more upfront. Congestion is the real problem, speed where there is "high" congestion is the real issue. The effect of a MP boat in those high traffic areas is not to be underestimated. Is a rule change really required ? What would it (purportedly) solve ? Would "we" be better server by an MP boat (not that I care much for this solution) at the congestion points ? Would a lake-wide SL really do any better or could "we" come up with a more rational concept ??

Moreover I really think it's time to think about how "we" approach such things. It seems that "we" are tending towards a "Gov't restricts this bad thing" w/o thinking whether such approaches are the best to affect a change or whether a rule change will really change anything. I dunno, perhaps it's the late hour, but I'm getting dismayed at our collective ability to solve problems (what is our problem in this case ?) w/o invoking the far reaching and non-descrimanting powers of gov't.

*Excessive speed - so is 55 mph excessive on the highway ? 65 mph ?? OR is the problem the one of letting pretty much any idiot behind the wheel ??? Should we all drive slow so the morons amongst us be safe at any speed ??? Are they really safe at 55 ??? Are "we" given that "they" are on the road ????? What is the real problem anyway ??????