" “Nothing is more horrifying on the water than a propeller strike.” “ A whirling blade can cause severe bleeding that can claim a life in seconds, and there is little that can be done to stop the bleeding” The only comparable life altering, disfiguring injury if the subject survives is a wartime injury such as those being suffered by our young heroes in Iraq. U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary warnings should be seriously takien. I am a Certified Legal Investigator in Dana Point, Ca. I am also the founder of a group known by the acronym, SAFER. That said, the organization is more properly named Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Recreational (SAFER) Boating. We are a victims advocacy group, boaters saving boaters. The purpose of this organization is to establish appropriate, economical but much needed higher safety standards for all recreational watercraft as well as the conditions under which the craft is operated. This organization lobbies the US Congress as well as the United States Coast Guard when in Washington DC and at selected national boating law enforcement meetings several times a year. We support any effort to make boating and the waterway experience safe and memorable for the right reasons…not an unexpected tragedy. Regrettably the current efforts do not go far enough. It is the Recreational Watercraft Manufacturers and related industries continued refusal to offer aftermarket services and built in passive safety devices that undermine that safe, healthy memorable fun on the water experience and they do so…at taxpayer expense. In effect a hidden State and Federal taxpayer supported subsidy for the maritime engine and boat manufacturer. Who pays for Boating Law Enforcement (very under funded and very dedicated people), rescue and recovery both at the Federal and State level? The Congressional Boating Caucus (CBC), a so called informal group of more than 150 Senators and Representatives that focuses on recreational boating issues is an arm of The National Marine Manufacturers Association's (NMMA) initiated in 1989. When support for a position taken by NMMA, the CBC consistently concurs. If you are an elected legislator…you are invited to be a member. This past Labor Day weekend, the NMMA sponsored a well attended, very lavish and funded cruise in Washington DC for the Legislators that were available. The United States Coast Guard effort is second to none in the world…but they too are under funded and short on staff. The National Boating Safety Committee (NBSAC) is well meaning. The National Association of State Boating Law Agencies (NASBLA) has placed many industry executives in strategic board/advisory positions insuring no binding decision is made unless it is in the best interest of industry. Recreational boating safety has changed very little, if any in the past 40 years, as has the recreational boating mindset. This phenomenon is thanks in large part to Recreational Watercraft Manufacturers advertising and promotion. The technology available today eliminates impediments to quickly locate and rescue those that go into the water unexpectedly. The wearing of a fashionable, integrated well-designed, comfortable personal flotation device (PFD) is part of the answer Portable personal buoy’s and location chips can be designed to auto release/activate to assist in the immediate location of a person going overboard. A propeller guard is comparable to an automotive seat belt. When was the last time you gave a second thought to using an automobile provided seat restraint or refuse to buy an automobile because of a safety air bag installation requirement? The Department of Transportation (DOT) mandates seat belts, air bags as well as a host of other passive safety devices in automobiles. There are GPS systems available such as On-Star, Lo-Jack and others, even those that can map and mark the time and exact location, speed and handling characteristics as well as constantly track/map the exact location of automobiles or trucks that may be involved in accidents Why not on watercraft? States demand the people be licensed to drive a car. Why not for boat operators with all the attendant education as well as very stiff violation sanctions? Another inefficient government bureaucracy you say… yes, perhaps so…lives and limbs of loved ones saved, you bet …and in huge numbers. Recreational boaters will argue boating is the last bastion of “unregulated freedom”. Boating accidents are caused by the irresponsible, inexperienced or even worse, the reckless and intoxicated, even those that fail to use common sense! It is a popular myth in large part foisted upon boaters, vigorously enhanced and perpetuated by industry. Automobile manufacturers made the same arguments and used the same disingenuous rhetoric 40 years ago. They were wrong then. The boating industry remains wrong today. In truth, recreational boating is the least enforced “regulated freedom” in the United States. The uninitiated, the innocent, continue to pay for this myth with the loss of their lives or through a life altering injury. Just ask anyone that has survived an encounter with the exposed boat propeller (in instances of unguarded propeller strikes) Very truly yours, Robert Townsend, CLI "