I too,really hate to hear about accidents and injuries like this and all the different circumstances that accidents occur under. Drinking or other has no place with the operator of any machinery and yet we all do it all the time. Add marginal conditions like nightime and the number of PRUDENT captains and operators drops exponetially.
The nav lights on our commanders are inadequate. Period. We can barely be seen. They may be legal but they are not adequate for our crowded waterways. Not one of us would take a 1960's something car with two big V-8s and drive it around in heavy traffic. First, the brakes are not adequate, second the taillights are not bright enough.
There are a number of solutions to this. Summer Palace will have her lights high enough that she can be at a much greater distance than the current bulbs can be seen at some 4 or 5 feet off the water as they now exist and with a much greater wattage.
If we don't voluntarily display prudency of operation, the CG will enforce prudency the same way the auto and the plane have gone. And that's no fun.
Jerry
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