Warning if you vacation in TN........

[jkski]

Vacation in TN for 1 week with friends = $800
Ticket from the TVA Water police = $186
Sun and Fun and knowing the TN boating laws = PRICELESS.

If anyone is headed to TN on vacation learn a lesson from my mistake. On the day we arrived at the Clinch River, we got a $186 ticket for not having a life jacket on our 10 year passenger while we were idle taking in the scenery. According to the ticketing officer, if we had been anchored, the 10 year old would not be required to wear a life vest, but otherwise it must always be on. The court costs were $176, which the officer stated went towards the judges retirement and the fine was $10.
Personally, I think he saw the OH numbers on my boat, thought he could make a quick hit and knew that I wouldn't come back to TN in late July to fight it in court.

Hope this helps someone.

[Ric]

Vacation in TN for 1 week with friends = $800
Ticket from the TVA Water police = $186
Sun and Fun and knowing the TN boating laws = PRICELESS.

If anyone is headed to TN on vacation learn a lesson from my mistake. On the day we arrived at the Clinch River, we got a $186 ticket for not having a life jacket on our 10 year passenger while we were idle taking in the scenery. According to the ticketing officer, if we had been anchored, the 10 year old would not be required to wear a life vest, but otherwise it must always be on. The court costs were $176, which the officer stated went towards the judges retirement and the fine was $10.
Personally, I think he saw the OH numbers on my boat, thought he could make a quick hit and knew that I wouldn't come back to TN in late July to fight it in court.

Hope this helps someone.
I do believe there is a similar law in TX as well.... Something about the boat being underway (maybe all states, I don't know)

[pilot02]

Sorry to hear about that. I've posted GA's requirement below for any interested though I personally don't allow ANY kids 12 and under to be on my boat at any time without a vest unless we are parked at a beach. Too much can happen.

GA - Children under age 10 must wear an appropriately sized PFD when the vessel is under way, unless the child is within a fully enclosed, roofed cabin.

http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/content/displaycontent.asp?txtDocument=19

[Tennesseeski]

Sorry you got a ticket man, but is all about the safety of the kids!!!! You being from out of state had nothing to do with it IMHO. My buddie got the same ticket last year on our home lake with our TN numbers. His son had just taken it off for a minute or so just as TWRA happened by. Those guys have good eyes man. Plus, they are only doing there job. They didn't make the laws, they just have to enforce them. I don't like some of the rules, but that is one(kids in jacket) that I agree with. Saved alot of lives for sure!

[Cary K.]

NC has the same law. I believe it is 13 here though, not sure. I make my son wear a jacket at ALL times, anchored or not. He puts it on on the dock and it doesn't come back off until he is back on the dock. He even reminds us occasionally.

[Tennesseeski]

Good idea! I read a story awhile back about a young kid that went missing and I think they even put out an amber alert. Was found later about 10feet from the family dock. Seems nobody noticed they fell in the water and that quick the child was gone. A jacket on the child would have been the difference. Man that tears me up to think about.

[ski_king]

What bugs me about this is they didn't give you a chance.
Yes, you were breaking a law, but wouldn't it have been nice if they came over to you and advised you of what you were doing wrong and told you not to do it again or they would give you a ticket?

Now if you were doing something reckless or really stupid, or gave him a hard time, it would be different.

It seem like a lot of law enforcement agencies have gotten away from the “protect and serve” philosophy and are out to meet ticket quotas.

............
We also have a rule at our camp, all kids muct have on there PFD if they are on the river bank, dock, swimmimng or in the boat. We also have an understanding between all parents/grandparents it is ok to enforce this rule with all kids, just not your own.

[caden]

Sorry about your ticket.
Seems like he could have given you a warning.
We too have a rule, anyone under 12 on dock or boat must wear a PFD. So many things can happen so fast.
Come back and give TN another chance oneday.

[AirJunky]

Sorry, but the same law applies here too.......Washington, Idaho & Oregon.

[djhuff]

It seem like a lot of law enforcement agencies have gotten away from the “protect and serve” philosophy and are out to meet ticket quotas.


No kidding, we were doing something questionable (too many people in the back of a pickup) but we were parked. Cop pulled into the parking lot and was waiting for us to drive off. one of us went over and asked him if everything was alright and he said we had too many people in the vehicle, we unloaded and all was fine.

He knew we were going to do something wrong and was going to let it happen just so he could write a ticket.


end threadjack

[G-man]

Just as a reminder to those in Texas children under 13 and on a boat under 26 feet must wear a life jacket at all times. Also a throwable cushion square or round must be within the reach of the captain. This does not mean stuffed under everything

[AirJunky]

I heard on the radio yesterday that Montana is requiring that their police force pull over at least one car per hour...... even if they didn't do anything wrong. Pull someone over & check them out.

[jkski]

It is all about safety for the kids, we just didn't know what the law was in TN, but now we do. We were as nice as could be, I even gave the guy a bottle of water, and he talked to us for about 20 minutes, then proceeded to write the ticket. I thought I was in the clear, but I guess my BS abilities were not as good as I thought. His first question was if we had had a safety inspection done, which I had, then he asked us how old the girl was (she was a friend of mine's). He stated that the law was 12 after we said 10..... off by 2!
Oh well, live and learn.

[Scot]

It is all about safety for the kids, we just didn't know what the law was in TN, but now we do. We were as nice as could be, I even gave the guy a bottle of water, and he talked to us for about 20 minutes, then proceeded to write the ticket. I thought I was in the clear, but I guess my BS abilities were not as good as I thought. His first question was if we had had a safety inspection done, which I had, then he asked us how old the girl was (she was a friend of mine's). He stated that the law was 12 after we said 10..... off by 2!
Oh well, live and learn.


Nothing like self incrimination... One time my son was riding a jetski and when pulled over was asked how far away he thought he was from the dock and my kid said.... 20 ft.... HAAAA!!! when he was well over the 50ft. The warden told me it didn't matter how far he really was, but since he didn't know how far he was suppose to be from other structures or boat, he was getting a ticket anyway...

In Texas the law requires anyone born after 1984 to take a boaters safty course which is available online and is very good....

[Ron Grover]

and law officers wonder why so many people have so little respect for them