Directional Laws???

[redneckgirl]

Hey Alan,

We are from CA and I found this statement quiet surprising! This was from the resent accident that killed Sara just south of Topoc!

As opposed to Arizona, California law does not require watercraft to travel on a specific side of a waterway.

However, federal navigation rules state that two boats approaching each other head-on should both turn right in order to avoid a collision, Fassari said.

Our local lakes in San Luis Obispo County, CA have directional bouys...we are so use to the counter clockwise directional lakes, that the river drives us nuts. I assumed that it was also a CA law as well as federal!!! With them (the people in the accident) were on the AZ side will he get a ticket for being on the on the wrong side...not that it is a big deal for him. He has way bigger problems than this!!! I would just like to get a clarification! Why do they not enforce the dirctional law at Havasu or the river...it would seem that they may not have as many problems if they put up bouys and inforced the law.

Thanks for you input...I was just curious.

RNG

[BoatCop]

Can't speak for any other Agency but my own. And we DO enforce the direction of travel. Although there is no law that says you must go up River on the Arizona side and down River on the CA (or NV) side, our laws stating counter-clockwise rotation cover that.

And the Federal Laws stating vessels must turn to the right in head-on situations, and that "vessels traveling in a narrow fairway (channel) shall stay on the furthest side of the channel that lays off their starboard (right) side", covers the same thing.

California law DOES state that all vessels shall follow applicable Federal Navigation Rules, so by default, they can enforce and impose penalties for violating those laws.

The problem with directional buoys is, who would set and maintain them? It's a Federal waterway, but the Coast Guard won't do it. In order to have them set by State Agencies, laws must be passed in both affected states, and approved by no less than 3 different Federal Agencies. (Coast Guard, Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corps of Engineers). Add the US Fish and Wildlife to that, if it's in the Refuge.

That is an almost impossibility.

Realize that when a buoy is set, it must be constantly maintained and replaced if it's torn loose. If not, the Agency that set them would be liable if an accident occurs because it was off-station or missing. State Agencies don't have the staff or the money to maintain all the buoys that would be required. And if a section of the River didn't have buoys, they could be sued in case of an accident, because another section had them and this one didn't.

Your Lake in SLO is probably under the control of one entity, like a Water District, Park Agency, or County. With one entity exercising control, the placement and maintenance isn't so much of a quagmire.

[redneckgirl]

Thanks Alan for your reply!!! I just wish people could/would treat it like a street...not all roads have a divided line!!!! It to bad more people were not educated, or used common since, with the laws of the lake and/or rivers.

You are right our lakes are is run by Monterey County even though it is half located in SLO County.

RNG