Skiiers: You could be arrested for Manslaughter if you ski too fast:

[Ripsnort]

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010131/aponline103304_000.htm

[Staga]

 

"If I was aware of those risks, there's no way I would have been skiing that fast."

And this man was a lift operator in that ski resort? Sounds little weird IMHO?

Because what he did another man died. Thats it.
Few years ago my friend got a ski in his mouth in Switzerland destroying half of his front teeth. That was his own fault; Never stop in the middle of the hill.

People should use more common sense...

[AKDejaVu]

 

People should use more common sense...

Ah.. come on staga.. this doesn't fit into the eXtreme sports mentality.  Today people are supposed to push things until it kills them or someone near them.

You know.. para-bicycling, Base-jumping, human-bbq.

It amazes me that companies like Mt. Dew are allowed to procede with certain add campaigns.  Very little of what we see on television today is geared towards common sense.  I'm not saying that television is responsible for raising our children, but it is difficult for parents to teach common sense when television is able to represent stupidity and make it so much more spectacular.

AKDejaVu

[AKDejaVu]

BTW.. Mt. Dew ran a commercial where a snow boarder comes over a rise and jumps some 50 feet down the hill.  It was incredible.  What they didn't show was the life-flight helicopter coming to pick up the snowboarder who managed to eat his snowboard on the landing.

The only show the action, never the consequence.

AKDejaVu

[StSanta]

Deja, it's the great paradox - in order to fully live, you sometimes must risk life.

All the ordinary things quickly become unrewarding and routine. For some (I am not one of them), being scared is one way getting enrichments.

Me, I like the experience, but hate the risks. Every jump I do, I think "uh oh, this jump is going to be the one I get a malfunction on".

Yet the rewards are so great - much greater than the risks.

About the skiiers; you American chaps seem to have a very litigous society and in some areas, it seems your judicial system needs to be adjusted somewhat. Just my opinion though.

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Baron Claus "StSanta" Von Ribbentroppen
9./JG 54 "Grünherz"

"I don't necessarily agree with everything I think." - A. Eldritch

[Ripsnort]

 

Originally posted by StSanta:
... it seems your judicial system needs to be adjusted somewhat. Just my opinion though.

This automatically labels you a republican in this country...

[Eagler]

They should leave more trees on the slopes, that'll slow everyone down...

Eagler

[miko2d]

 I fully support the right of anyone to kill or hurt him/herself or any consenting partner of legal age in any way possible that does not endanger an innocent bystander or cause property damage.

 Under that definition fall:
 Smoking in private (or specially designated public) places.
 Using drugs.
 Drinking alcoholic beverages in your off-duty time.
 Assisted suicides.
 Having "unsafe" sex
 Any "extreme" sports performed in areas that preclude presence of bystanders that would not choose to be involved in an accident.
 Example: Lot of spectators can get hurt during an accident at the car races, but they are all aware of if, so it's OK with me.

 Many other things you can think of.

 I also think that government must not legislate insurance companies to cover results of such activities, making me pay for their treatment.
 Those people can do it on their own risk and buy special insurance if needed.

 I am against government spending tax money trying to save people from themselves. All the dangers should be taught students in school as a part of a general education - like any other usefull knowlege. After that people (or their parents if underaged) should make teir own decisions.

 Observation 1:
 I believe that government war on drugs in no way makes myself safer from drugs (nobody ever tried to force me to use them) but it endangers me by increasing crime (drug addicts who need money for unreasonably  expensive drugs, chance to get involved in a dug-related turf-war shootout as a buystander, organized crime making billions).

 I am sorry for a skier who killed another guy. He needs to be made example of if only to attract attention to the issue and prevent  such accidents in the future. I hope he will not get a full 6-year term and manages to restore his life afterwards. The family of a guy who was killed will not be able to do that.  

My $0.02
miko

[Mickey1992]

"If I wouldn't have been skiing that fast, I probably wouldn't have lost control, and that accident wouldn't have happened"

Replace the word "skiing" with "driving a car" and there would be no argument about this.  He was experienced and he was negligent.  Case closed.

[RAM]

 

Originally posted by Eagler:
They should leave more trees on the slopes, that'll slow everyone down...

Eagler

Then they'd sue the ski station  

[Dinger]

I dunno Rip.  I wouldn't blame our antequated Jury system for civil trial awards on the Democrats.  It's in the constitution, and that's the problem.  As a fervent anti-rlican, I stronly support any move to modify the "right to a trial by a jury of peers" clause to exclude civil actions (or just tort cases).  Alternatively, I'd be strongly in favor of a clause that says, "In a civil case, no damages shall be awarded to any plaintiff when  it is determined that the major cause of the incident (>50%) was said action or non-action on the behalf of the plaintiff that community standards would regard as inherently idiotic."

Yeah, so it ain't good legalese -- at least it's good and vague.

[TheWobble]

WHAT A BUNCH OF toejam!

If your gonna go skiing you are taking a risk, from falling, from trees, from avalanches, and yes from others.  Its not like this guy was aiming for anybody, he lost control.  yea its sucks that it happened, but he isnt a murderer, what a crock of crap.

[paintmaw]

I ski every weekend , and have seen several close accidents . A lot of these were caused by a skier (usually a boarder) going down the hill , not looking UP hill to see if anyone was there .The uphill guy tries to miss them but they turn without looking into the faster skier's path . You take a risk of being hit anytime you strap on a pair of skis . The safest thing to do is ski the black runs and avoid the newbies .

[leonid]

Sorry to digress on your thread, Rip, but here goes...

 

StSanta wrote:
Deja, it's the great paradox - in order to fully live, you sometimes must risk life.

StSanta, the only reason risk of live and limb makes life fuller is because it forces you to face your mortality.  There are other ways of facing your mortality, rather than participating in such extreme events.  Meditation is one way.  Buddhists have been doing it for millenia.  It's weird how continuous, undirected meditation will bring you face to face with your own death.  And while many people seem to think that meditation is all about feeling 'good', facing ones mortality certainly gives life a delicate crispness that is usually sadly lacking in our event-saturated lives.

[This message has been edited by leonid (edited 02-01-2001).]

[StSanta]

Leonid, I am spiritually challenged. I can't turn off the thoughts in my head.

Meditation gets tedious, i turn impatient, and that worsens it.

And, it's tranquil, quite the opposite to having the ground come up against you at 50m/s.

Scuba diving comes as close to meditation as I can get; weightless, I deep in a controlled manner and am just stunned by everything I see.

Of course, in the US after a scuba accident, it is common for relatives to sue everyone within a 1 mile radius :/

A good current will usually upset that, though  .

What to do when yer spiritually challenged?  

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Baron Claus "StSanta" Von Ribbentroppen
9./JG 54 "Grünherz"

"I don't necessarily agree with everything I think." - A. Eldritch