Tour boat capsize

What a tragedy to hear about a tour boat sinking in New York. Latest estimates put the death toll at 21 out of 47. This boat was equiped with life jackets but people are not required to wear them. Maybe something like this has to happen before regulations are changed. Isn't this why we have seat belt laws? Laws to protect people from themselves. In the article they say all the passengers were on one side of the boat to apparently look at something of interest when a wave from another ship caused theirs to roll. Am I the only one who thinks this was a senseless waste of life? What was the Captain thinking? I think we are way to trusting with our lives. I recently took a harbor cruise in Seattle while on vacation. This was a very large boat but I requested life jackets for my family. We only get one life. It's like they say the life you save just might be your own.