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Sea Kayak Trips Bulletin Board
Re: insurmountable lawsuit/greed?
Posted By: Ian Johnston In Response To: Re: insurmountable lawsuit/greed? (Shawn Baker)
Date: Saturday, 2 October 1999, at 3:55 p.m.
There was an interesting debate at the Banff Film Festival a few years ago concerning risk in "extreme" sports. The issue was addressed by various interested parties including, participants, guides, insurance companies and yes lawyers. (A brief outline of the discussion appeared in Outside Magazine a few months later.) The lawyer representative stated that in the final analysis it was up to the legal profession to decide who's risk it is.
This , to me, is exactly what we don't need. The best way to ruin anything is to let someone who's only interest in the activity is how to generate revenue when something goes wrong, decide for everyone. If you really want to take all the fun out of something have a politician put regulations on it, set up a regulatory body to enforce it and let lawyers "what if" it to death. (What if the wind was blowing from the west and it was a sunny day, would Johnny still be dead because he didn't wear his lifejacket??)
There is something to be said for the theory of Mental Darwinism. This theory proposes that some people are inherantly stupid and will eventually kill themselves anyway. So why regulate everyones recreational activities if these people are just going to find new and dumber ways to arrive at their destiny. Leave things alone and these people will get themselves out of the way sooner rather than later!
All kidding aside, we as the kayaking community must look at this seriously before someone else does. We must use "COMMON SENSE" and not regulations to guide us. There is a risk in kayaking, and when something goes wrong it is the fault of the individual kayaker only. It is not my fault that Joe in New Brunswick dislocated his shoulder when bracing, it is his. And by the same token I have no one to blame but myself if I get in over my head. So instead of looking for someone to blame, spend the time figuring out how not to let it happen again.
Businesses have liability insurance because they recognize that given the choice between taking the blame myself and living with my injury or relinquishing my responsibility for my actions and suing for a big payday, most people will take the money.
Ian Johnston
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