What group would you guess causes the most crashes aboard recreational boats: ages 12 to 25, or ages 30 to 50? A new law in Maine suggests it’s the younger boaters—but not everything is as it seems.
This past spring, Maine became ground zero for a debate on the necessity of mandatory boating education classes, a conversation that has repeated itself for years in legislatures nationwide. The Pine Tree State joined this particular fray late, with its boater-education bill being put forward after at least 36 other states had already imposed some form of mandatory classes. Still, the arguments echoing within the Maine State House were just as loud as everywhere else. On one side were lawmakers, regulatory agencies and concerned boaters saying things have gotten out of hand on the waterways, and on the other side
