[Paddlewise] Ignorance

Hi folks,

A while back one of my co-paddlers gave me an amazing insight of how the
human mind can work in evaluating dangerous situations.

The lady in question was tying 2 kayaks on the roofrack of her car. She was
not using any bow- or stern lines to the car, just some ropes around the
boats and the rack. I was watching it, thinking the attachments of the rack
to the car didn't look too solid. I pulled on one of the attachments and
pulled it right of the car. She noticed and pushed it back on. Problem
solved in her opinion.

We had a discussion like this:

Me: Aren't you afraid the wind will pull the rack of your car?
She: Well, it never happened, so I think it's OK.
Me: So you just wait until it happens before you do something about it?
She: I told you, it didn't happen so far.
Me: Just imagine it happens. Imagine you are driving on a crowded highway,
and your roofrack with 2 kayaks flies into the air, make a couple of
summersaults and then lands on a car behind you. Imagine the damage to the
kayaks, the car, the people in the car, the people behind it, the enourmous
disaster that will be your fault.
She: Oh no, I don't want to think about that.
Me: If you don't want to think about it, you better make sure it doesn't
happen. Use some extra lines for gods sake! You're a danger to everyone
around you! Do something about it!
She: <angry face, no answer>.

She probably thinks I'm not a very nice guy, just going on and on about it.
She has not changed her way of tying boats to a roofrack.

None so blind as those who don't want to see.

Niels.
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