> From: "Kevin Dyer" <k.dyer_at_bluewin.ch> >> From: "Doug Lloyd" >> >> We all >> do dumb things in life. Some get us killed. And if you non-Victorians > > I get the impression from here in Switzerland that you in the States are > getting bad press because of irresponsible people having accidents. Over Actually, Victoria (The City of Gardens) is located in British Columbia, a province of Canada. I suspect Canadians prefer to keep it that way :-) The US has definitely had its share of accidents, though. I'm not sure if the average person on the street is very aware of them, however. Either here in the US or in Canada, generally speaking. > getting bad press because of irresponsible people having accidents. Over > here, we don't have the problem with sea kayaks, because there are too few > of them, in fact, mine and 2 others that I know of. The situation is the > same here with tourists climbing mountains unequipped, untrained, inadequate > physical condition and completely unprepared for when nature suddenly gives > a little growl and then these people get killed, or worse for the rescuers, > hurt. The same polemic - "why should we pay?". <snip> > What's the answer to all this? Driving licences like cars and you only get > one after a test. Then legislation that allows sale or rental to people that > have the said licence. The idea of licensing drivers began way back when cars were new and drivers were running over people in the streets or into each other. Unfortunately, dangerous drivers often claim other victims, too. Do you think a license would be in order for climbing in your country since that appears to be more problematic in your area or is it already the case that licenses are required? Should visitors be required to pass the test and pay for a license in another country? Who is going to establish the standards for testing? Actually, I would imagine there are more accidents related to riding bicycles, especially with kids. Should they be required to obtain a license before owning/using a bicycle? How about swimming? Far more deaths associated with swimming than kayaking. If we really want licensing, I'm sure we could find *someone* in our government (as difficult as it is to imagine) who would be willing to champion that cause if it meant collecting more fees for the government. 8-} jackie (who doesn't like talk of more fees the day after April 15 8-/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Apr 16 2002 - 20:02:57 PDT
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