On Sun, 27 Feb 2000 09:41:52 -0500 (EST), you wrote: >>Waivers are virtually useless. Win or lose a lawsuit can put a small >>operator out of business. I wonder how many operators have or can afford liability insurance? >Based on the outcome of the most recent (actually, the only) WW rafting >death on the Nantahala, having a waiver may or may not help you, I just did a quick search of North Carolina cases using "Nantahala" but found no reports of this WW rafting mishap. It may be that it was settled without a trial/reported decision which, to add to Dave's earlier posting, is not the best way to know or report on paddling accidents vs climbing accidents reported by the AAC. >... but NOT having one is the kiss of death if there is an accident. >In that incident, a girl on a school rafting trip fell out of a raft, >was foot-entrapped, and drowned. There are lots and lots of school cases with problems with both equipment (eg, gymnastic mats) and supervision (eg, a school outing along a river). >From the reports I read, it seems likely that she was wearing her PFD >too loose and that she attempted to stand in the current. She certainly >had received the pre-trip safety instruction. Good that she had the pre-trip safety instruction, but poor that the guide and teacher didn't notice how she was wearing her PFD. I imagine that both guide and teacher were somewhat pre-occupied with the river. Probably some contributory negligence there on the part of the girl. Maybe a "buddy system" would have been helpful to keep equipment properly worn. >Of course, no one wants to blame a victim, expecially a 16-y.o. girl. The >judgment was against the school/teacher and the Nantahala Outdoor Center >for not having provided the parent an opportunity to give informed consent >via a waiver. AFAIK, and understand that I am relying on Internet reports, >there was no allegation or admission of any on-the-water negligence. Interesting outcome which provides compensation for the parents of the girl without having to deal with the respective liability of the parties. Informed consent and the use of waivers is always important. The presence of signs or forms/tickets excluding liability (at a ski hill, for example) are not enough if they have not been brought to the attention of the skier. The difficult part is in balancing informed consent without scaring away potential customers. --- cheers, Stephen stephen.bird_at_superaje.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Feb 27 2000 - 07:56:10 PST
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