Are maritime safety rules always reactive?

Are maritime regulations always written in blood, or are regulators sometimes ahead of the danger?

They are overwhelmingly reactive: serious accidents and failures create the pressure for new rules, even when no one dies.

Meaningful maritime rules are generally written after an accident or serious failure. Death is not required in every case, but a major incident usually creates the pressure needed for action. Titanic belongs to that reactive pattern of regulation. Safety law often records lessons learned through costly experience because it rarely anticipates every danger in advance.