Ever hear of ‘assumption of risk’? It was after all presumably a recreational outing the deceased chose to go on. Government does NOT need to regulate EVERY ASPECT OF RECREATIONAL BOATING. Regulate the commercial mariners.
ANYONE operating ANY type of vehicle including boats should be required to carry liability coverage to pay for property damage and bodily injury caused by operator negligence. There are too many idiots from North Jersey and New York who buy a boat, drop it in the water, and think the ocean is all theirs. They lack basic seamanship, are dis-courteous, and pose a very real risk to others.
Noble idea but not practicle. The Federal Government has regulatory control over navigable waterways. Any attempts by the state to interject regulations in this area will rapidly be dismissed in Federal court. The only jurisdiction New Jersey could claim are state registered boats operating only in state waters. This would leave only a small percentage of boats operating in greater New Jersey that would fall under this regulation.
Don’t let your state legislators waste taxpayer funds by attempting to regulate US maritime interests. They WILL loose and the New Jersey taxpayer will get the bill
Couple of things……endorse HO policies to cover boating liability – cert of same required to obtain boat registration from State….agree new jersey not too interested in the public’s welfare and weal but, darn it, those under utilized and under compensated plaintiff’s attorneys (who seem to run the Legislature) need another source of recovery – bet they find a way to do this
“Right now, there is no guarantee that a family will be compensated in the event a loved one is hurt or killed in a boating accident on New Jersey’s waters. It is a glaring omission of law and it must be corrected”
Why does this politician seem to think that every death should involve comensation ?? Sometimes people die and its just a sad, unfortunate, NON FINANCIAL event. What’s next….should bicyclists carry insurance ? Rollerbladers ? How about those pesky skateboarders at the local park ?? The problem will come down to where do you draw the line. A 50 foot race boat could do a lot of damage to people and property, but some guy that paddles his canoe around a pond, can’t really do much more than drown himself or his passengers. He shouldn’t be forced to insure his canoe.
This is just the trial bar opening up a new market….imagine how that poor family felt when they found they couldn’t sue anyone; the golden parachute was not available. You can bet that the incidence of lawsuits for boating will pick up within months of the implementation.
How dare you say that sometimes people just die. Boaters should have to require boat insurance in the year 2001, there were 20 deaths on the NJ water ways, 18 of them were uninsured. This has nothing to do with a family just gaining money after a death. Atleast there should be enough insurance on your boat to cover the person’s funeral that died on it! Wow, it’s only going to cost about $200 a year to insure your boat, big deal, if you can gas your boat up, you can pay that policy. Put yourself in the family’s shoes.
if you do something to cause the death ( or injury ) of someone else, yes you should be responsible….but this law tries to make every death a financial event and takes the stance that someone should always be forced to pay when someone dies. If I negligently run you over in my boat, I should be held responsible….but if I invite you fishing and you fall overboard and drown, or get struck by lightning, that’s just unfortunate. I shouldn’t have to pay for that.
The cost of insurance is minimal. If you can afford a boat, you can afford insurance. You can not compare a motorized vehicle to a bike or skateboard. It is the responsible thing to do. It is a tragedy, and it is not about seeking compensation for a life, lives are not replaceable or bought, it is about being responsible. Yes, there is risk in everything we do, but I bet there are many, many people who do not even know that insurance is not required, they assume it is because it just makes sense. Do you get in a car and ask the driver if they have insurance, or do you just assume that they do?? I support this bill 100%.
To carry insurance is the right thing to do. this was not the first un insured boat accident in NJ what about the 28 year old man that left behind 4 children. What was his wife to do?
I also support this bill 100%. Anyone out there who doesn’t is just looking out for their own personal interests and is just plain ignorant and selfish. Operating a motorized boat should require liability insurance just as it is the LAW to have car insurance. And it would come at a MUCH CHEAPER price. I can’t believe, as in many things in life, it takes a tragedy to wake people up.
what is she to do ?!?!?! She should have had life insurance. Every death is tragic and a burden on those left behind…but that doesn’t mean you get to stick someone with the bill.
If this bill goes through, people are going to try to collect for deaths that aren’t necessarily anyone fault. If I ask you to go fishing and you have a heart attack on my boat…that’s not a compensatable event. Once there is insurance and a bunch of lawyers it will become a lawsuit. It will also cause people to register their boats out of state, costing the state tax revenue
I also would like to point out the medical costs that must have been involved. He lived for almost 2 days. They used a helicoptor for transport, not to mention the intense medical care at the hospital. His family was left with the medical bills. I bet the proposed coverage wouldn’t even cover part of what they must owe. The family is still responsible for the bills. Just because you die doesn’t make it go away. Insurance could have helped pay for that. It’s not millions of dollars in settlements. You really need to look at the whole picture.
All of the “support” arguments seem to be based around the financial burden on the deceased’s family. I am sure it was very hard on them to have all those bills to face, but there is already an insurance product to deal with that. Life Insurance is specifically designed to cover the burden of the medical bills and loss of future income when a person dies. Trying to create a new insurance product for every scenario in which a person can die is insane. Here we are talking about boat insurance. If I were to lend you my bicycle, should I have bicycle insurance ? I have an extra pair of skis, do I need “ski liability insurance” ? Where does it end ???
Not every financial burden can be passed on to somoene else. This family had a tragic thing happen, but that doesn’t mean someone else should have to pay for it. They should have had life insurance. I would rather see a law that obligates every parent get life insurance. That would make more a lot sense than this.
I am surprised it’s not already a law! We have insurance for so many other situations why not have this in place? Most people who have lived through this kind of thing under stand the bills and frustration that come with the grief.
Just because its a good idea or makes sense, doesn’t mean it should be mandated for everyone. Many people with good common sense probably have insurance already, as do many marina members, and probably anyone who financed a boat as a bank would require it. But it doesn’t make sense to require it of everyone, and its going to cause lawyers to go looking for settlements where they aren’t deserved. Right now if you slip, fall and brake your arm on a buddy’s boat you go to the ER, get it fixed and your health insurance covers it. IF this law passes, ambulance chasing lawyers will be calling you up and offering to get you thousands of dollars for your pain and suffering…..we don’t need that.
It is unfortunate that boat owners do not take the reasonability to have insurance. What makes a boat any different from a car? Donald McGloan was a real person, with a real family, and friends that loved him dearly. He went on a “friends” boat one day and never came home. The person who owned the boat did not take the responsibility to have boat owners insurance. Donald’s family was stuck with medical bills and funeral cost. Not to mention the fact that he had two teenaged children that had dreams of going to college. It is pure insanity that we do not have this law already in place!!!
AAAGGHHHHHH !!! The issue here isn’t whether or not this guys death was tragic, a burden on his family or a big expense for everyone. It was all of those things….I am not debating that in the least. My point is that not every boat should be required to have liability insurance. Some boats are so small and cheap that adding an insurance requirement would effectively prohibit boating for many, this bill will have lawyers seeking damages solely because there is an insurance company to pay them, not because they are warranted, and lstly……LIFE INSURANCE should cover a family that can’t be without their loved one..NOT boat insurance.
Listen GB I wasn’t debating with you!!! So you can keep your AAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!! FYI life insurance didn’t even come CLOSE to paying for medical cost…. Donald’s family is not ambulance chasers as you may be suggesting… What if you were in a car accident and the person didn’t have insurance??? You’d be screwed!!! What if you had to be air lifted from the scene?? Do you have any idea what that cost??? And yes he did have health insurance…. And guess what the boat owner pretty much got away with murder!!! Because you can be negligent on your boat and it doesn’t mean a damn thing!! You can just say “oops sorry” to the family and go on your merry way!!! Now what do you think of that??? Sounds to me like there needs to be some serious laws changed!! And believe me I am 100 % for less government and less taxes but what is the difference between a boat and a car???
Just in case you don’t get it, this family gains NOTHING from this bill if it is passed. They are not ambulance chasers. It is absured that you can pass judgement on people you don’t even know. I think it is very courageous and wonderful that this family is doing this. I hope to God that this bill is passed and that you never need to use it.
1. Regardless of whether this bill is passed or not, there will ALWAYS be lawyers looking to collect damages.
2. His argument in a previous posting about where to draw the line and what’s next, bicycles, is completely ignorant. We’re talking about a motorized vehicle, just like a car. We’re not talking about bicycles, tricycles, skateboards, canoes, rowboats, paddleboats, etc!!
3. The purpose of his bill is NOT to create life insurance for those affected by this tragedy. It’s to hold those persons liable who were acting in a negligent manner, hence the word “liability” insurance.
I never said the family were ambulance chasers. I used the term “ambulance chasers” to describe the lawyers who will aggressively go after boat owners just because there is an insurance policy to pay off.
A boat is different from a car for a number of reasons. All cars are big and heavy and go fast enough to do damage. Not all boats are. Cars naturally go into high liability situations. They operate in close proximaty to pedestrians, other cars, buildings, etc. Boats primarily operate away from buildings, people, swimmers etc.
If this was such a no-brainer, why doesn’t this law exist in every coastal state ? The fact that it doesn’t should be taken as an indicator that its not necessary.
If this families life insurance didn’t cover their bills, they were under-insured. I believe this bill is only going to require $100,000 in coverage which probably would not have covered this guys bills anyway if he was airlifted, in an ICU, and so forth.
I would suggest some commentors, if they have not already, to obtain and peruse a standard boat insurance policy,and particularly the EXCLUSIONS section.
GB I’m guessing you must work for some kind of watch group or government agency since it takes you approximately 3 minutes to respond to everyone who writes on this board… Like someone said before me let’s hope you or anyone you love is never in the same situation… and PS boats are just as dangerous as cars and anyone who doesn’t think so is just naive.
I spend the whole day at my desk, and this is an issue that hits close to home for me since I am a boater ( although not in NJ, I am in Massachusetts. ) and I resent the current trend that says there is always someone to blame. Sometimes bad things happen and its no one’s fault, and no one to stick the bill with.
Not all boats are as dangerous as cars. There are some high performance boats, that do 100+ mph, and have huge tanks of explosive fuel on them. Their potential for damage is HUGE !! My boat is a 16′ long boat that on a really good day and ideal conditions, can do about 20 mph. The majority of the time I don’t go any faster than about 10-12 mph. Most sailboats go considerably slower than that. There is very little damage that I can do in a boat like that. I suppose there is a risk of a passenger falling in the water and drowning, but that could happen at any public pier, beach, dock or breakwater.
You have no idea how this hits home for me.Donald McGloan died due to injuries he obtained when the boat blew up, so please keep in mind that speed is not the only factor here, the boat that blew up wasn’t even moving, it was still parked. There are many ways to be injured on a boat. The boat that blew up wasn’t a fast moving boat anyway. My family had boat, and it was always insured, if was in the water or in the driveway, ALWAYS. The man who’s boat this was, he was 100% at fault, he did not upkeep with his engine. So please keep in mind that there are many ways you can get injured on a boat. I understand that a lot of boaters are insured, but I strongly believe that every boater should be insured. NJ will be the first state.
GB you hit the nail on the head. My view is that the trial bar is who will benefit most; it does not come as a surprise that the motivation for this bill is to make someone else responsible for someone else’s foolhardyness, that is, not having life insurance. I have it but many folks do not; not being able to afford the premium is pennywise but pound foolish. This has nothing to do with covering someone’s funeral expenses but rather a means for a pay off, for the plaintiffs and their attorneys. You can talk til you’re blue in the face but I’d like to be at the bank when they deposit the check….
Listen pal, money is not the isue here, the issue is responsibility as a boat owne. You ask someone out on you boat the boat blowes up you are burnt over 75% of your body you last in the hospital for 36 hrs you die and the owner goes on about his business! The owner is found 100% at fault of unlawful death, and no legal obligation for compensation! What is that!
Ever hear of ‘assumption of risk’? It was after all presumably a recreational outing the deceased chose to go on. Government does NOT need to regulate EVERY ASPECT OF RECREATIONAL BOATING. Regulate the commercial mariners.
ANYONE operating ANY type of vehicle including boats should be required to carry liability coverage to pay for property damage and bodily injury caused by operator negligence. There are too many idiots from North Jersey and New York who buy a boat, drop it in the water, and think the ocean is all theirs. They lack basic seamanship, are dis-courteous, and pose a very real risk to others.
Noble idea but not practicle. The Federal Government has regulatory control over navigable waterways. Any attempts by the state to interject regulations in this area will rapidly be dismissed in Federal court. The only jurisdiction New Jersey could claim are state registered boats operating only in state waters. This would leave only a small percentage of boats operating in greater New Jersey that would fall under this regulation.
Don’t let your state legislators waste taxpayer funds by attempting to regulate US maritime interests. They WILL loose and the New Jersey taxpayer will get the bill
Couple of things……endorse HO policies to cover boating liability – cert of same required to obtain boat registration from State….agree new jersey not too interested in the public’s welfare and weal but, darn it, those under utilized and under compensated plaintiff’s attorneys (who seem to run the Legislature) need another source of recovery – bet they find a way to do this
“Right now, there is no guarantee that a family will be compensated in the event a loved one is hurt or killed in a boating accident on New Jersey’s waters. It is a glaring omission of law and it must be corrected”
Why does this politician seem to think that every death should involve comensation ?? Sometimes people die and its just a sad, unfortunate, NON FINANCIAL event. What’s next….should bicyclists carry insurance ? Rollerbladers ? How about those pesky skateboarders at the local park ?? The problem will come down to where do you draw the line. A 50 foot race boat could do a lot of damage to people and property, but some guy that paddles his canoe around a pond, can’t really do much more than drown himself or his passengers. He shouldn’t be forced to insure his canoe.
This is just the trial bar opening up a new market….imagine how that poor family felt when they found they couldn’t sue anyone; the golden parachute was not available. You can bet that the incidence of lawsuits for boating will pick up within months of the implementation.
How dare you say that sometimes people just die. Boaters should have to require boat insurance in the year 2001, there were 20 deaths on the NJ water ways, 18 of them were uninsured. This has nothing to do with a family just gaining money after a death. Atleast there should be enough insurance on your boat to cover the person’s funeral that died on it! Wow, it’s only going to cost about $200 a year to insure your boat, big deal, if you can gas your boat up, you can pay that policy. Put yourself in the family’s shoes.
If a family has a member that they can’t afford to bury or be without, they should have life insurance.
I support this bill whole-heartedly and agree with everything it stands for and everyone it protects.
If you kill someone on your boat, you should be responsible just like if you kill them in your car!
the bill is not for Canoes, it’s for powered boats.
if you do something to cause the death ( or injury ) of someone else, yes you should be responsible….but this law tries to make every death a financial event and takes the stance that someone should always be forced to pay when someone dies. If I negligently run you over in my boat, I should be held responsible….but if I invite you fishing and you fall overboard and drown, or get struck by lightning, that’s just unfortunate. I shouldn’t have to pay for that.
The cost of insurance is minimal. If you can afford a boat, you can afford insurance. You can not compare a motorized vehicle to a bike or skateboard. It is the responsible thing to do. It is a tragedy, and it is not about seeking compensation for a life, lives are not replaceable or bought, it is about being responsible. Yes, there is risk in everything we do, but I bet there are many, many people who do not even know that insurance is not required, they assume it is because it just makes sense. Do you get in a car and ask the driver if they have insurance, or do you just assume that they do?? I support this bill 100%.
So the bill is only for powerboats. There are some pretty big sail boats in NJ…..shouldn’t they be forced to carry insurance as well ?
The problem with this is it makes the assumption that every death deserves compensation. That’s a faulty foundation to go around making laws on.
To carry insurance is the right thing to do. this was not the first un insured boat accident in NJ what about the 28 year old man that left behind 4 children. What was his wife to do?
I also support this bill 100%. Anyone out there who doesn’t is just looking out for their own personal interests and is just plain ignorant and selfish. Operating a motorized boat should require liability insurance just as it is the LAW to have car insurance. And it would come at a MUCH CHEAPER price. I can’t believe, as in many things in life, it takes a tragedy to wake people up.
what is she to do ?!?!?! She should have had life insurance. Every death is tragic and a burden on those left behind…but that doesn’t mean you get to stick someone with the bill.
If this bill goes through, people are going to try to collect for deaths that aren’t necessarily anyone fault. If I ask you to go fishing and you have a heart attack on my boat…that’s not a compensatable event. Once there is insurance and a bunch of lawyers it will become a lawsuit. It will also cause people to register their boats out of state, costing the state tax revenue
Anyway, I support this bill 100% It is the right thing to do, carry insurance on your boat.
I also would like to point out the medical costs that must have been involved. He lived for almost 2 days. They used a helicoptor for transport, not to mention the intense medical care at the hospital. His family was left with the medical bills. I bet the proposed coverage wouldn’t even cover part of what they must owe. The family is still responsible for the bills. Just because you die doesn’t make it go away. Insurance could have helped pay for that. It’s not millions of dollars in settlements. You really need to look at the whole picture.
All of the “support” arguments seem to be based around the financial burden on the deceased’s family. I am sure it was very hard on them to have all those bills to face, but there is already an insurance product to deal with that. Life Insurance is specifically designed to cover the burden of the medical bills and loss of future income when a person dies. Trying to create a new insurance product for every scenario in which a person can die is insane. Here we are talking about boat insurance. If I were to lend you my bicycle, should I have bicycle insurance ? I have an extra pair of skis, do I need “ski liability insurance” ? Where does it end ???
Not every financial burden can be passed on to somoene else. This family had a tragic thing happen, but that doesn’t mean someone else should have to pay for it. They should have had life insurance. I would rather see a law that obligates every parent get life insurance. That would make more a lot sense than this.
I support this bill. It is just as important to have boat insurance as it is to have car insurance.
Regardless if someone dies on your boat or not, you yourself can be injuried and need coverage on your own boat. I just think this is a good idea.
I am surprised it’s not already a law! We have insurance for so many other situations why not have this in place? Most people who have lived through this kind of thing under stand the bills and frustration that come with the grief.
Just because its a good idea or makes sense, doesn’t mean it should be mandated for everyone. Many people with good common sense probably have insurance already, as do many marina members, and probably anyone who financed a boat as a bank would require it. But it doesn’t make sense to require it of everyone, and its going to cause lawyers to go looking for settlements where they aren’t deserved. Right now if you slip, fall and brake your arm on a buddy’s boat you go to the ER, get it fixed and your health insurance covers it. IF this law passes, ambulance chasing lawyers will be calling you up and offering to get you thousands of dollars for your pain and suffering…..we don’t need that.
It is unfortunate that boat owners do not take the reasonability to have insurance. What makes a boat any different from a car? Donald McGloan was a real person, with a real family, and friends that loved him dearly. He went on a “friends” boat one day and never came home. The person who owned the boat did not take the responsibility to have boat owners insurance. Donald’s family was stuck with medical bills and funeral cost. Not to mention the fact that he had two teenaged children that had dreams of going to college. It is pure insanity that we do not have this law already in place!!!
AAAGGHHHHHH !!! The issue here isn’t whether or not this guys death was tragic, a burden on his family or a big expense for everyone. It was all of those things….I am not debating that in the least. My point is that not every boat should be required to have liability insurance. Some boats are so small and cheap that adding an insurance requirement would effectively prohibit boating for many, this bill will have lawyers seeking damages solely because there is an insurance company to pay them, not because they are warranted, and lstly……LIFE INSURANCE should cover a family that can’t be without their loved one..NOT boat insurance.
Listen GB I wasn’t debating with you!!! So you can keep your AAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!! FYI life insurance didn’t even come CLOSE to paying for medical cost…. Donald’s family is not ambulance chasers as you may be suggesting… What if you were in a car accident and the person didn’t have insurance??? You’d be screwed!!! What if you had to be air lifted from the scene?? Do you have any idea what that cost??? And yes he did have health insurance…. And guess what the boat owner pretty much got away with murder!!! Because you can be negligent on your boat and it doesn’t mean a damn thing!! You can just say “oops sorry” to the family and go on your merry way!!! Now what do you think of that??? Sounds to me like there needs to be some serious laws changed!! And believe me I am 100 % for less government and less taxes but what is the difference between a boat and a car???
Just in case you don’t get it, this family gains NOTHING from this bill if it is passed. They are not ambulance chasers. It is absured that you can pass judgement on people you don’t even know. I think it is very courageous and wonderful that this family is doing this. I hope to God that this bill is passed and that you never need to use it.
Here is where GB is wrong.
1. Regardless of whether this bill is passed or not, there will ALWAYS be lawyers looking to collect damages.
2. His argument in a previous posting about where to draw the line and what’s next, bicycles, is completely ignorant. We’re talking about a motorized vehicle, just like a car. We’re not talking about bicycles, tricycles, skateboards, canoes, rowboats, paddleboats, etc!!
3. The purpose of his bill is NOT to create life insurance for those affected by this tragedy. It’s to hold those persons liable who were acting in a negligent manner, hence the word “liability” insurance.
I never said the family were ambulance chasers. I used the term “ambulance chasers” to describe the lawyers who will aggressively go after boat owners just because there is an insurance policy to pay off.
A boat is different from a car for a number of reasons. All cars are big and heavy and go fast enough to do damage. Not all boats are. Cars naturally go into high liability situations. They operate in close proximaty to pedestrians, other cars, buildings, etc. Boats primarily operate away from buildings, people, swimmers etc.
If this was such a no-brainer, why doesn’t this law exist in every coastal state ? The fact that it doesn’t should be taken as an indicator that its not necessary.
If this families life insurance didn’t cover their bills, they were under-insured. I believe this bill is only going to require $100,000 in coverage which probably would not have covered this guys bills anyway if he was airlifted, in an ICU, and so forth.
This bill would cover all boats that need to be registered. That would include sailboats and unpowered boats over a certain length.
I would suggest some commentors, if they have not already, to obtain and peruse a standard boat insurance policy,and particularly the EXCLUSIONS section.
GB I’m guessing you must work for some kind of watch group or government agency since it takes you approximately 3 minutes to respond to everyone who writes on this board… Like someone said before me let’s hope you or anyone you love is never in the same situation… and PS boats are just as dangerous as cars and anyone who doesn’t think so is just naive.
I spend the whole day at my desk, and this is an issue that hits close to home for me since I am a boater ( although not in NJ, I am in Massachusetts. ) and I resent the current trend that says there is always someone to blame. Sometimes bad things happen and its no one’s fault, and no one to stick the bill with.
Not all boats are as dangerous as cars. There are some high performance boats, that do 100+ mph, and have huge tanks of explosive fuel on them. Their potential for damage is HUGE !! My boat is a 16′ long boat that on a really good day and ideal conditions, can do about 20 mph. The majority of the time I don’t go any faster than about 10-12 mph. Most sailboats go considerably slower than that. There is very little damage that I can do in a boat like that. I suppose there is a risk of a passenger falling in the water and drowning, but that could happen at any public pier, beach, dock or breakwater.
You have no idea how this hits home for me.Donald McGloan died due to injuries he obtained when the boat blew up, so please keep in mind that speed is not the only factor here, the boat that blew up wasn’t even moving, it was still parked. There are many ways to be injured on a boat. The boat that blew up wasn’t a fast moving boat anyway. My family had boat, and it was always insured, if was in the water or in the driveway, ALWAYS. The man who’s boat this was, he was 100% at fault, he did not upkeep with his engine. So please keep in mind that there are many ways you can get injured on a boat. I understand that a lot of boaters are insured, but I strongly believe that every boater should be insured. NJ will be the first state.
Pass this law NOW! I was shocked that a boat owner didn’t need insurance – everyone else does – mopeds, motorcycles, autos,homeowners, renters, etc.
PASS THIS LAW NOW!
GB you hit the nail on the head. My view is that the trial bar is who will benefit most; it does not come as a surprise that the motivation for this bill is to make someone else responsible for someone else’s foolhardyness, that is, not having life insurance. I have it but many folks do not; not being able to afford the premium is pennywise but pound foolish. This has nothing to do with covering someone’s funeral expenses but rather a means for a pay off, for the plaintiffs and their attorneys. You can talk til you’re blue in the face but I’d like to be at the bank when they deposit the check….
Listen pal, money is not the isue here, the issue is responsibility as a boat owne. You ask someone out on you boat the boat blowes up you are burnt over 75% of your body you last in the hospital for 36 hrs you die and the owner goes on about his business! The owner is found 100% at fault of unlawful death, and no legal obligation for compensation! What is that!