Another midair in the pattern

What would be so onerous about a radio mandate, when handhelds are widely
available for ~$200?


For the record...

- my instructor told me to get a (club) parachute upon endorsing me for my 1st
1-26 solo; I've never flown without a 'chute since, including in 2-33's.
- I purchased a handheld ~1989 and have rarely flown without it or a fixed
radio since.
- I'm in 100% agreement w. (for example) Andy D.'s decision to not rent older
no-radio power planes. (His choice. Mine or others' may or may not be
different, depending upon our personal situations and views.)
- vario audios are wonderful devices & I highly recommend them to any aspiring
sailplane pilot.
- (somewhere in the RAS archives can be found that...) I suggested - some
years before FLARM appeared - a relatively simple device transmitting "Here I
am, don't hit me," information coupled with a receiver and computer
technology, would be a wonderful, relatively inexpensive device for the entire
flying community to have. I heartily applaud the FLARM folks for their
implementation(s) of it, and expect their devices will have beneficial effects
upon certain types of accident prevention. (Awesome!)
- I've worn seatbelts ever since my dad's 1966 Country Sedan station wagon
came with them...and think folks who don't are taking foolish/avoidable risks.

Those things noted, there's not a single panacea device in the above list -
or, imagined, at least so far as I'm aware - that will remove all the risk
from flying & soaring. And so it will ever be...

If an individual pilot opts for a certain safety device - excellent!

If that pilot's club opts for a certain safety device - excellent!

If the SSA opts for (mandates?) a certain safety device - well, maybe not so
unanimously excellent.

If the FAA mandates a certain safety device - clearly NOT unanimously excellent.

My point in raising the question of (in this particular instance) the proposed
desirability (or not) of a radio mandate centers on the reality that - in
addition to radios not being a panacea - the decision is ultimately intensely
personal, and dependent upon one's (present, ever-changing) worldview.
Technology - and associated cost - perpetually marches on. (Who else remembers
the STS handheld which burst on the glider scene 20+ years ago? Prior to then
handhelds for the glider market weren't obtainable at any price.)

My guess is had the FAA - or even I, had I been king - then mandated
handhelds, a howl of protest would have been raised...and rightly so, IMHO.

Given that all of us naturally struggle in making personal/individual choices
in our lives, (when?) is it justifiably 'desirable' to mandate choices for
*other* people's lives?

THAT is the philosophic question underlying this thread's (soaring-related) topic.

Regards,
Bob W.