Yellowstone lake known for fatalities, wear it next time. I missed my window for paddling “the crib” . Too old now! Best ride is in the raft!
That is something I see far too often in urban environments, and usually in front of my deuce and a half hauling several tons of
load and trailer. The little illuminated sign that they’ve been staring at on the far side of the street changes to the happy walking person shape and off they go, sometimes pushing their offspring in a stroller or dragging them behind w/ a hand clutched in theirs. Never looking to see if there is even a chance that my 20k pounds + of steel is going to stop before passing that line of “safety” they’re following across the road.
Edit: meant lbs, not tons.
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> Blockquote
“…What is optimal at the individual level is not always what is best in the aggregate (population level)
From a personal view, the thing I think about the most is that I observe that strict rule followers lose their ability to hone their risk decision making skills.
If I cross the street on a crosswalk, I don’t always look as carefully for traffic as when I am jaywalking which requires all senses to be engaged.”
Exactly!
Following a rule or habit does not have to mean “Disengage brain” in all circumstances, but some people treat it as such.
Humans are notoriously lazy when it comes to paying attention or thinking if they think a machine will do it for them. After the govt required third brake lights on all new vehicles, there was an initial reduction in rear-end collisions. The new thing was different from what they were used to seeing. And now? Not so much.
I don’t watch the lights of the car in front of me. I watch the car itself AND everything before and along it and me, as well as behind me. Since nobody can see in all directions simultaneously, it takes mental energy to stay alert to the constantly-changing surroundings. A lot of people would rather do other things than, you know, drive.
When I cycled 6 days a week, there was a period during which I stopped wearing a helmet…because I chose to wear little headphones with radio playing. In heavy traffic. In metro Boston. I still followed all the other safety precautions and laws, and I kept the volume low. But that one choice could easily have gotten me killed. There was NO EPIPHANY OR CLOSE CALL involved when I decided to start wearing a helmet again. It was “merely” me thinking about it more, reevaluating priorities.
I wear a PFD when paddling now, which I did not always do when sea kayaking. Again, this change was not because of any close call or someone else’s fatal mistake. It was because I had multiple capsize recovery options with a sea kayak, most importantly a reliable roll on both sides. The PFD was more of a hindrance than a help, though I could do all recovery methods with it on.
Now, with a surf ski, there is only one way to get back on and paddling after being tossed. The PFD is backup in case I can’t do it. There is higher risk of both getting dumped and failing to recover quickly, so MY risk equation changed with the change of vessel.
YMMV, and every adult with experience should think through their own risk equation. I’m not going to adopt some Internet poster’s own choice just because they said so.
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I can’t get over the stroller out front either! I usually wear a helmet but occasionally I don’t but I would never ever in my wildest dreams put my babies in those bike trailers and ride in traffic where the trailer is below the car line of sight.
So true, as is the part about humans expecting a machine (or someone else) to absolve them of any responsibility for their own actions.
In another life, I drove a 3,000 gal tanker and we were taught to anticipate such behavior from pedestrians. We were taught to drive as if we expected to stop at every light, intersection and crosswalk, and we were taught not to depend on pedestrians’ judgment under any circumstances. Ever. After all, hadn’t we all made dumb decisions from time to time, especially while distracted (by a screaming baby in a stroller, for example)?
It wasn’t at all about who had the right-of-way or who would be held legally responsible in an accident. It was far more self-serving than that. It was about not wanting to live the rest of your life with the awful memory of having killed someone and knowing in your heart that it didn’t have to happen … if only you were driving a little bit slower.
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I often drove back and forth from FL to SC with 90 beehives on my flat bed. I drove very defensively as a wreck would quickly become problematic even though the load was under bee proof netting. In warm weather the beehives would have to be unloaded or sprayed with water to keep from overheating. I tried to avoid populated areas, when possible, but I have had to drive through heavy traffic on I-4 through Orland and it was very difficult to keep a safe distance from cars in front of me because as soon as I did someone would pull into the gap.
Tailgating seems to be a popular pastime on the road as well as at games, speed signs just a suggestion, and courtesy a sign of weakness. Also, a widespread lack of understanding of these words when put together in this order “Drive Defensively”!
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I was just carrying water! 
You have to wear a seatbelt no?
if I cross the street on a crosswalk, I don’t always look as carefully for traffic as when I am jaywalking which requires all senses to be engaged.”
You won’t live long in NY 
You have no choice but to wear a seat belt or get tickets.
It’s the law and a good law. The seat belt law is to protect other people from being injured if your body is ejected through the windshield. Your flaily torso could kill someone. That’s where a helmet and PFD might be of value if you become a projectile.
I could swim like a fish. Didn’t need no stinking PFD. PFD’s were for losers or something. Started sea kayaking but never wore one when paddling alone or with other equally dumb-ass people. Then one day a dear friend and fellow paddler gave me the book “Sea Kayaker: Deep Trouble” and, gee whiz, I read about all of these people doing what I aspired to do and dying in the process. Everything that they were dying over was stuff that I was doing and up until reading that book I thought that I was all that. Made me realize that I didn’t need an incident to catch a clue.
I don’t care what you choose to do but if you choose to not wear a PFD we won’t be paddling together.
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That QUOTE is someone else’s comment.
I’ve been to NYC a couple times, a very very long time ago. Had no desire to ever go there again. 
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We do have a lot of discussions on PFD use, and they tend to evolve in a couple of different directions:
First there are the “whataboutisms”. Yes, paddling in dangerous, but what about seat belts, or helmets, or cross walks – pick your dangerous activity that we do every day. To me, the most dangerous thing we do on every trip is drive to the put-in, so it is probably more important to put on your seat belt than your PFD. I do both.
Then there are the “anti-regulation/personal responsibility” folks. I agree with this one. My state (RI) just passed a PFD law, and it will have zero impact on PFD use or boating fatalities.
Then there is the “PFD as a crutch” argument. People put on their PFD and somehow forget everything they learned about risk management. Assuming that they knew something about risk management to start with, I don’t think so.
Then there is the less frequently but sometime argued “I’m better off without it”. The PFD impedes my roll, or is hot in the summer, or the helmet impedes my vision.
I am in the “always PFD” camp because I struggle to come up with a situation where I am better off without it. For me the only two situations I can come up with are stuck under a strainer or recirculated in a hole, and once I am through those hazards I am back to being better off with the PFD on. I’ll take the risk on those two. The PFD should not be your primary risk management strategy, but it is what keeps you floating and hopefully alive if your primary strategy fails.
I do think there is a cultural element to PFD use – maybe even a regional element. I paddle with a lot of different groups in the northeast (flatwater, whitewater, more recently sea kayak) and I have never joined a group with someone not wearing a PFD – just doesn’t happen around here. Having said that, paddle boarders and flatwater racers tend to be the exception to the rule – they have their reasons.
I guess my argument for always wearing your PFD is that it is a good habit to get into. If you always have your PFD on, you don’t need to worry about finding yourself in a dangerous situation without it.
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Having been here over 20 plus years, I’ve seen this re-run before. Deja-vu all over again. 
The good part is that, despite having my own position, I am pretty emotionally detached with these threads. 
I do think these discussions serve the overall purpose of exposing newbies to the issues They can then make their own decisions. Much better than having newbies heading out without awareness or thought.
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Now I remember why. We had type II PFDs and they made it difficult to fly cast, so we took them off and tossed them in the bottom of the canoe. Yellowstone is a big lake that can get really choppy when the wind is up, but we were fishing close to shore in the evenings when the water was calm, with water temps in the low 60s. So probably not that risky.
Since then I’ve been using PFDs that don’t get in the way of paddling or fishing. And putting on my PFD has been an automatic habit since sometime in my 20s. It’s like putting on my shoes before going for a walk outside. I also carry my keys, wallet, and phone in the pockets which makes it harder to forget.
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Comfort is another reason. Most occasional paddlers use those cheap neoprene vests that get hot and may rub or chafe if they don’t fit well. Here in the northeast, we don’t see the persistent high summer temps that folks in southern states do.
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Thankfully, we have the CO2 inflatable PFDs for flyfishers. I was a flyfisherman long before I was paddler. I had several close calls on the Androscoggin River by Errol and on the remote Rapid River in western ME. Nothing like trying to get oneself to shore with waders filled after a tumble in the rapids of a big trout river. I started wearing an inflatable PFD after reading about the drowning of this famous Japanese American flyfisherman and writer (who also was sort of a “flyfishing hero” to me):
I rarely ever see other flyfishers wearing a PFD. But, I do out of caution from my own mishaps. I’ve recently taken up surf fishing, but am using my wetsuits rather than a wader. I have not gone on out on “big surf” day yet, as I more likely to be surfing than fishing. But, if and when I do, I expect to be wearing an inflatable PFD in addition to my wetsuit.
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