[Paddlewise] Accident Reports Archive

Does  Paddlewise have a searchable heading such as ACCIDENT REPORTS 
in its archives?

Would Paddlewise serve boaters well by having such a file?

It is clear that information on specific accidents is easily lost or 
buried in many ways.  Once a case is reported somewhere, it is 
covered by copyright and becomes the sole property of the publisher. 
The story, in effect, has been "captured" and sequestered.  The 
information is lost to the general public.  A small story in a local 
news section of a regional paper assures that no one outside the 
region will ever hear about the circumstances of the case. Press 
reports are often severly incomplete or misleading because the 
writers are not boaters and don't know what questions need to be 
asked.

Coast Guard tables showing accident statistics do not provide the 
public with any significant understanding of the circumstances 
surrounding individual cases.  Readers eyes glaze over when 
confronted with numbers of dead not wearing PFD's.  The predominant 
conclusion of folks that don't understand the effects of cold water 
is likely to be "too bad they didn't know how to swim"  "I do; it 
won't happen to me!" 

I believe there needs to be a site or archive file that records a few 
paragraphs about every sea kayaking or coastal paddling accident that 
comes to the attention of Paddlewise subscribers.  Allowing authors 
to capture and bury stories that are crucial to teaching the general 
public about how to deal with the coastal enviroment should not be 
encouraged in my opinion.

Chuck Sutherland
Skimmer_at_mail.enter.net
http://www.enter.net/~skimmer

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