Posted on 08/07/2007 9:30:25 AM PDT by WesternCulture
Swedish boaters may soon need to pass a 'driving test' before taking to the seas. Should a forthcoming government proposal gain acceptance the new requirement will apply to boats that are over seven metres long and/or have a top speed of at least ten knots.
"Between 200,000 and 250,000 boat owners may need to take the driving test," said Lars Högdahl from the Ministry of Enterprise.
A generous set of transitional rules may however soften the blow. Seasoned boaters with many years of documented experience will for example be eligible for a licence without needing to first pass a test.
"We are aiming for the future and don't want to take anything away from anybody," said Högdahl.
The official hopes to present the results of his inquiry later this year.
I can’t wait till we get ‘driving tests’ for remote controls, cell phones, computers, Jacuzzis, dvd players, lawn mowers, kitchen machines, portable grills and electric toothbrushes here in Sweden. Our politicians must act more rapidly. I nearly cut myself while chopping some onions last evening.
I’m certainly not an Anarchist, but I can’t help but think these song lyrics by British Anarchist group Crass is a wonderful parody of the attitudes most people house towards governments;
“IF THERE WERE NO GOVERNMENT
If there was no government, wouldn’t there be chaos
Everybody running round, setting petrol bombs off?
And if there was no police force, tell me what you’d do
If thirty thousand rioters came running after you?
And who would clean the sewers?
Who’d mend my television?
Wouldn’t people lay about without some supervision?
Who’d drive the fire engines?
Who’d fix my video?
If there were no prisons, well, where would robbers go?
And what If I told you to **** ***?
If there’s no army to stop a big Invasion?
Who’d clean the bogs and sweep the floors? We’d have all immigration!
Who’d pull the pint at the local pub? Where’d I get my fags?
Who’d empty out my dustbins? Would I still get plastic bags?
And what If I told you to **** ***?
It there were no hospitals, and no doctors too,
If I’d broken both my legs, where would I run to?
If there’s no medication. If there were no nurses,
Wouldn’t people die a lot? And who would drive the hearses?
And what If I told you to **** ***?
If there were no butchers shops, what would people eat?
You’d have everybody starving it they didn’t get their meat.
If there was no water, what would people drink?
Who’d flush away the you-know-what? But of course MINE never stink.
What about the children? Who’d teach them in the schools?
Who’d make the buggers keep in line? learn them all them “rules”?
Who’d tell us to whitewash windows? When to take down doors?
Tell us to make a flask of tea and survive the holocaust?”
The part of the world I live in, Scandinavia, is indeed a very nice one. Lots of Scandinavians seem to believe this is because of our authorities and politicians.
Actually, it’s not. It’s because of hard work, broad engagement in matters of business, economy in general, science and technology as well as the influence of a Lutheran moral concept.
Scandinavian politicians have very little to do with the prosperity and success of the Scandinavian countries. In many ways, Scandinavia is a great place to live because of CAPITALISM not of politicians.
Vikings don’t need ‘driving licenses’ to take to the seas.
When they finish that, perhaps they offer explosive safety courses for terrorists.
What a bunch of rubes the decedents of the once great Vikings have become!! They are as much a bunch of wussies as the descendents of Charlemagne, the Conquistadors, and the Romans - not to mention the Angol-Saxons and the American backwoodsmen.
How would you like to go for a drive in your car, with just about every driver on the road allowed to break the rules of the road (and not even have to know them) while you must obey every regulation to the max.
That pretty much describes what happens to licensed captains trying to herd large vessels through narrow channels while avoiding all the "monkey boats" zooming around every which way.
It can get really hairy when you're coming through the channel in a ship that takes about a half-mile or more to stop, and you can't steer outside the channel as that would put you aground.
As a former CG Officer, I would advise Sweden to prioritize their testing in terms of who makes the most money, or is worth the most.
Generally speaking, the more expensive the watercraft, the less competent the skipper. I’m not saying its an unmutable law of physics, but the rich generally thing because they were either good or lucky making money, they were experts at everything they do.
Regular joes in small skiffs and weekend boaters are generally the best seamen. The rich are morons, and worse, they are too arrogant to learn the ‘rules of the road’, much less follow them.
What a bunch of rubes the decedents of the once great Vikings have become!! They are as much a bunch of wussies as the descendents of Charlemagne, the Conquistadors, and the Romans - not to mention the Angol-Saxons and the American backwoodsmen.”
- Today, large parts of The Western World is comfortably asleep.
However, I believe things are improving.
Perhaps, we presently experience more of ‘coming-to-awareness’ over here in Europe (read Sarkozy and Merkel), but the battle is not yet lost in America.
I sincerely hope the next president of the US will NOT be named Clinton or Obama.
Well, I can’t do much else than wishing our Conservative friends across the Atlantic Ocean good luck in the next presidential election!
The struggle for sanity goes on.
“I’d love to see a testing system for this country’s boaters”
I don’t know about other states but Alabama has required a vessel license for 7 or 8 years. It applies to everyone who operates a motorized vessel and is directly tied to your automobile license. Get caught operating your boat drunk and you lose you privilege to drive a car. It has cut the death rate for boating accidents by taking most incompetent boaters off the water.
I won’t feel comfortable until western Europe and America wake up, declare Islam the death cult it is, and deport all Muslims.
We have become prisoners of our own political correctness and hypersensitive humanity. Our opponents are not saddled with such obstacles.
However, bureaucracy costs and my opinion is that Sweden wastes to much money on red tape, regulations and unproductive authorities.
Most severe accidents caused by boaters in my country are due to the dangerous combination of drunkenness and water and I fear the introduction of more laws will not bring about a major change in this area.
But perhaps we will, eventually, find a way to deal with Italian “pizza lingo” Ferrari drivers haunting Swedish roads. More Swedish police officers should be taught Italian. This is the way to go;
I can’t believe that took eight posts. What about Invisible Boat Mobiles?
Live and learn...
Test? All you do is slam down that throttle and get out of my way baybeeee. We don’t need no stinkin idle zone. There are few situations in life a high power boat and a chain saw can’t get you out of.
Live and learn...
The rules are not 'carved in stone' as we have the "General Prudential Rule" that essentially says that if you have to break a rule to prevent a collision (or danger to lives), then do it.
Your friend was a victim of a very common misunderstanding of the rules.
Sailboats do not always have right of way.
Among other things they have to yield for row boats, canoes, kayaks etc. and, according to COLREGS Rule #18-B:
(b) A sailing vessel under way shall keep out of the way of:
(i)a vessel not under command;
(ii)a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver;
(iii)a vessel engaged in fishing;
The underlined type of vessel includes ships, etc. whose ability to maneuver is restricted by the fact that it can't leave the channel because it has too deep a draft and would run aground (steer to avoid collision) and also the fact that ships have really poor brakes (full speed astern) and there is no other choice.
* 30 or 40 thousand tons in motion bring the law of inertia to the forefront.
Listen, I agree.
As such, you’d think local municipalities have water patrols where they are needed. As such, a written test to get your boat registered would be sufficient, such that they at least have documented they understand all the applicable regulations, the rules of the road, etc.
Beyond the laws, there are also local customs that should be respected too. They aren’t laws, but they are rules there that maintain ‘good will’ that are worth observing.
Some ‘No Wake Zones’ are like this.
You misunderstand, capt. No friend of mine at all... However a real friend just got his 100 ton license.
“There are few situations in life a high power boat and a chain saw can’t get you out of.”
- This is true, but mind you, my Volvo V70 has more hp’s than most conceivable combines of powerboats and chainsaws.
See you, in my rear-view mirror.
Sounds very reasonable, but in Sweden, a system like that would never be considered as ‘enough’.
It will have to be failproof.
As a former USCG enlisted puke and boarding offier, now resident of an upper-end marina-laden town, I'd have to agree completely. Most townie kids are far more skilled than the lawyers who who drive down here to their the million dollar plus luxury craft.
I'd like when you see a mercedes or bmw in your rear view mirror, you just know they are going to drive like a prick.
LOL, maybe not! Check this link out!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=150866562363735346
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