Patrol wades into wide boat debate
Published: Thu, Aug. 21, 2008 08:43AM
Modified Thu, Aug. 21, 2008 03:11PM
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closeRALEIGH -- The state Highway Patrol bolstered arguments against allowing wide boat trailers on state roads with a demonstration today of their dangers.
Gov. Mike Easley on Sunday vetoed legislation to allow 9.5-foot-wide boats and trailers after dark on roads and bridges as narrow as 18 feet. Legislators are considering returning to Raleigh and trying to override the veto.
Bryan Beatty, secretary of the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, which oversees the patrol, said the demonstration was intended to show how wide boats and trailer could endanger other motorists and pedestrians.
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Troopers used an oversize boat and trailer to show the difficulty of staying within lanes during the demonstration at the patrol's Training Facility on Tryon Road.
When he vetoed the legislation, Easley said he was concerned about the dangers of wide boats on rural, unlit roads.
But State Senate leader Marc Basnight said the legislation was valuable to the economy and did not pose a safety issue.
Basnight has said he wants to bring the legislature back to Raleigh to override the veto. The measure originated in the House, so Basnight has been waiting for House Speaker Joe Hackney to make the first move.
A spokesman for Hackney said today that the speaker was polling House members about what they want to do.
The spokesman, Bill Holmes, noted that wide boat trailers already are allowed on the roads with permits. "These boats have been on the road," Holmes said. "It's not like all of a sudden they started making bigger boats."
Currently, permits are required for boat-trailer combinations more than 8 1/2 feet wide, and the boats cannot be towed on Sundays or holidays or at night.
A boat manufacturers' group said today that many boaters were unaware of this rule until the Patrol began fining people for violations. The National Marine Manufacturers Association said the requirement would have "a huge negative impact" on boating in the state and urged lawmakers to overturn Easley's veto.
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