Re: [Paddlewise] Billed for a Rescue

James Farrelly wrote:
> Speaking of rescues.
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/us/29rescue.html?_r=1&em

Reading the article carefully, it sounds like a bad law.  The criteria on 
which a fine is based are vague and so broad I bet a good attorney could 
beat those fines.

Mind, I am not opposed to the concept of fines, but would want them 
carefully applied.  Out of bounds skiers who willfully violate covenants to 
which they have agreed by buying a lift ticket at a controlled ski area, 
and who subsequently need a rescue, I could see the rationale for a fine. 
But, John or Jane hiker who go out on a nice sunny day on an easy, 
well-marked trail and forget to take a map ... and get lost?  That is maybe 
incompetence.  Negligence?  I bet there is a big fat road down which a 
defense attorney could drive his case in that situation.

We paddlers are in total limbo on this.  There are no codified standards 
for safe paddling conduct on open waters.  Chart?  Not required.  VHF?  Not 
required.  Compass?  Ditto.  Paddle float?  Dry top?  Bracing skills? Yadda 
yadda yadda The list is endless.  How would a paddler know what constituted 
negligent behavior or conduct?

Compare our situation to that of power boaters who need a rescue due to 
their incompetence.  None of them are being fined for rescues in Oregon, 
despite the substantial number who require rescue resources.  How about New 
Hampshire ... the state featured in the article?  Bet not.  To illustrate 
how slippery this slope is, what about a family in an SUV who slide off an 
icy mountain road into a deep ravine, all surviving, but unable to get back 
up to the road?  Do they pay for a haulout?  Bet not.  Certainly, failure 
to operate a motor vehicle prudently is negligence ... and is codified in 
chapter and verse in law.

New Hampshire is treading on very thin ice here ... perhaps they will need 
a bailout? (oops!)  I mean rescue!! [grin]

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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