Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Food For Thought...
concluding thoughts

Yesterday's blog on taking care of one another on the water has generated many thoughtful comments and even some off line e mails. So, it was nice to hear from a local paddler who is both a certified instructor and an attorney. He offered some excellent thoughts.

Among them was a reminder how "nice" folks can quickly change and bring a liable suit when someone in their family is injured, especially if it is a young person and/or a bread winner. He took time to go through what an attorney needs to show in order to successfully sue someone in such a situation. While reading his mail, I thought about another aspect of all this.

If you were to be sued, even if you won the litigation, the expense of defending yourself could bankrupt you. ACA (and, I assume, BCU) classes at least have insurance available. Some home owners' also offer coverage for volunteered acts. Still, there is the emotional component of being the subject of such an action.

Those sorts of law suits don't go away in days or even months, but can often drag on and drain one of their enthusiasm. It's all enough to scare the hell out of a person. Now, for me, here is the biggest downside of all. Carrying such a concern can bring paralysis. A paddler of experience and with credentials can become so concerned with it all that the worry becomes the over riding thought when paddling in a group. That's when it stops being fun. That's when some will withdraw from the group only to paddle alone or with other instructors. But what happens if one of those instructors is injured or lost during a group Paddle? Where's the aspirin?

Paddle safe...
DS

7 comments:

Ben said...

Somebody let that guy go tkae a nap! He looks exhausted!
It's funny this comes up now, as I just had to take a course on product liability.

Mine's said...

Who is that hot guy in that picture? Is he single?

Silbs said...

As a matter of fact, he's married. to you, as I recall. How many times must I explain this to you?

Mine's said...

Next time draw me a picture please. Man I am lucky.

derrick said...

Yarg! I'm come back later. . LOL!

IowaAdmin said...

Good post, but I think you meant "libel suit" not "liable suit." Sorry, I'm an editor. It's what I do.

Silbs said...

And...you are a good editor. You are, of course correct, and I thank you for taking time to write. As one who greatly appreciates the written word, I welcome a chance to improve. Now, if you really want a challenge, checkout Derrick at kayak quixotica. He is creative as hell, a good friend and a maniacal speller.