Re: [Paddlewise] Trips - hosts and leaders

At 02:21 PM 7/11/2005, Shawn Baker wrote:
>John Kirk-Anderson <jka_at_netaccess.co.nz> wrote:
> >While we haven't - yet - stumbled down the crazy path of litigation,
> >the walk has begun.
>
>This asinine and destructive American plague has already infected our
>neighbours to the north.  I'm sorry to hear the symptoms have been
>spotted in your fair country.
>
> >Last week a Coroner's Inquest into the death of a skier from
>California
>heard calls from his family for someone to be held responsible. He was
>skiing alone on a groomed field, and no-one saw what happened, but his
>body was recovered from a small creek. The family asked that "all"
>hazards be identified and marked.
>
>I hope the Kiwi courts rule that he was personally responsible.
>
>Dammit, I liked not seeing warning signs all over New Zealand!  I've
>never played with a helicopter while in a kayak here in the US.  Know
>why?  Omnipresent litigation!
>
>The family is asking the court to rule to change the very attitude that
>probably drew their beloved deceased to your country in the first
>place.
>
> >Hopefully, common sense will win, but for how long?
>
>For how long would you like New Zealand to remain the adventure sports
>capital of the world?  If things get too sanitized, it will be just
>another California.  (apologies to Californians...but not to your
>population of lawyers or state government!)

Blame Cana^H^Hlifornia!  As a fifth generation native Californian I wish 
people would stop assuming that all of California and the people that live 
there are the same.  Like many other states in the U.S., it is very 
diverse.  California is not L.A.

I was equally appalled at an incident which occurred a few years ago.  A 
student died when he fell into one of Ithaca's gorges and the parents filed 
a lawsuit against the university.  Nevermind, that the incident occurred at 
2:30AM, when the student walking back home from a Frat party (his BAC was 
over double the legal driving limit), and decided to climb over a 3' fence 
that serves as a boundry around the gorge.
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