Boat Safety

This is why safety will never improve... The first 10 questions on the Florida test have have nothing to do with safety and are almost all about bureaucratic definitions. I gave up at nr 12
 
The questions definately are mixed bag from weather, fueling, loading, navigating, regulations, etc.
 
Ex how stupid of a question is that???

In Florida, an operator of a PWC should

 A. operate at full speed near shore.

 B. be aware of other boats in the area.

 C. do not have to be bothered to avoid manatees.

 D. jump as many wakes as possible.
 
I thought Manatees were speed bumps designed to slow down boats and jetskis!
LOL
 
I got a 94 for SC. 80 is passing. It seems a little stupid that they don't tell you which ones you missed.

I have to agree with Pascal, there are a lot of stupid and non sarfety related questions. Also, a couple of trick questions.

One question was "What is the first thing you should do after you load your boat onto the trailer?"
The answer they wanted was "move it away from the ramp." It should have been "Secure the boat to the trailer with a strap." It's not only not a safety question, but not all of us trailer our boats. Another question was about which way to roll a PWC to get back on it. How is that a safety question and why would a trawler owner care?

Why can't these tests be written by experienced boaters?
 
I started it, but 5 out of the first 10 questions were about PWC operation or trailer loading, and I've never owned a PWC or plan to own one, nor do I trailer a boat, so I lost interest.
 
Same here... I did the whole thing, skeaked by with 88% and no idea what I although it had to do with trailers and PWC

I think I chose strap the boat to the trailer first... I don't trailer so what do i know! But it seems logic not to yank the trailer off the ramp without straps!

Or rinsing the boat? I think I said at the ramp but there are usually no hose

This is what we ll get of mandatory licensing becomes law
 
regardless what they say anything other than dropping the boat or pulling it should not be done on the ramp. get in the water and get off the ramp and out of the way.
 
I said stow boat gear on that one.
Used to trailer and once left seats in sunpad position.
Hit a bump and one flew out.
 
Got 86% on the California version -- just 6 points above passing. Lots of questions about PWC's, about which I know nothing, ditto about trailer boats. Also some very silly questions. Still, it's better than nothing at all I suppose.
 
As far as pulling the boat away from the ramp, the bow strap is generally used to pull it the last couple inches or lock it in place. So move out of the way. But really stupid quiz anyway. I don't use, or like, PWCs so how the heck do I know?
 
Really a dumb test, scored a 98 for NY

I knew it was that damn water skiing question.
 
Couldn't make it past 7 questions before it irritated me too much to continue. Some of their answers are flat out wrong, some of them I strongly disagree with. First thing that should be done when caught in rough weather? I'm assuming they were looking for PFD's - I like secure all hatches better. PFD's should be a given at that point in the game. The conditions under which most accidents occur is a bogus question, as well - the ones that happen in clear, calm weather are most often not accidents, just logical results of stupidity and human error. True 'accidents' are most often at night or heavy weather.

But then again, I have a slightly different perspective on boating safety.
 
Agree with you NC... some things such has hatches and life preservers are a given, which one should do "first" is moot. But yeah, IMO the answer they were looking for was probably the PFD. If most authorities had their way they'd require PFD's to be worn while sleeping at the dock.

Then there is the business about "accidents"; in reality they're darned rare or nonexistent. They ALL have a CAUSE and if you go back far enough that cause is almost exclusively HUMAN ERROR (stupidity, negligence, inexperience, poor maintenance, etc etc).
 
Gotta agree w/ Pascal - as long as States consider this 'reasonable knowledge' and issue certificates/licenses based passing, boater safety isn't gonna improve much.
 
Bear in mind they have to start SOMEWHERE, and many of the boaters out there are total idiots. Even the simplest of tests would help many of them.
 
NJ was not on the list so I picked NY. Got a 94% but I have to admit most of the multiple choice answers given made the test a no brainer if I had a question it was re-enforced by looking at the stupid multiple choices given to that question, usually there was only one answer that made any sense. I tried to take the test with speed in mind not accuracy.
Bill
 
I agree with Wille's "Start Somewhere" comment. When I look at the mishaps, some fatal, that wouldn't've happened if people heard the "Don't Anchor From the Stern" message I know we've got to be helping when we do boater education. Occasionally we train people from other states. I tell them they should log onto their state's course, study the state-specific items, take that test, and get their home state's card. That's even though I request a FL card for them and most states reciprocate. I want them to know what THEIR state wants them to know. But there's a flaw. I've done essentially what you're talking about here. Go take another state's test and see what the score is. I could miss all the state-specific stuff and still pass because I can ace all the rest. So I could have a Louisiana card, for example, just for the fee and what I know about boating in general. The flaw is somewhat controlled when we do the one-day About Boating Safely program in FL. 80% is the overall passing score, and we'll give a participant a completion certificate at that score. BUT to get the FL Boater Ed Card, they must also have at least 80% (meaning no more than 2 wrong) on the 10 state-specific questions. Those on-line classes don't require that.
I think part of why FL asks the questions that they ask is to try to keep boaters FROM doing things that'd be violations. Then IF they violate, they can't claim ignorance. Not that ignorance is an excuse, but the officer can say "Hey you passed a test about this to get that card you showed me."
At the start of our class I hold up the ABS course book and tell the class "This is the book of things TO do." Then the FL book "This is the book of things NOT to do."
 
A lot of you are attacking the exam but if you go thru the course it is actually pretty good.
If you think about some of the boat accidents in the last few years the issues are covered in there.
Overloading, stern anchors, explosions, navigation, etc
Education helps. Quiz can use some work. Also I would say you have to get 100. If you get it wrong you need to go back and try again till you get it right.
It does make you think and that is good.
Too many people think boat means turn key and go.
 
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