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>You are kidding, right? Do you really believe that there is no liability
>on the dive boat operator here? If this operator can be found to have
>ignored obvious signs that the diver, REGARDLESS of liability waiver, is
>dangerously unfit, and allows the dive anyway, they can wind up in court.
> Even if they win, the potential loss in providing a defense and loss in
>reputation can be substantial. The liability issue NEVER goes away. It
>is unfortunate, but true, that many times accountability gets shifted to
>the possessor of the deepest pockets.
The defense of the uncertain, produced by fear, and presented by the
unknowing.
This line of logic is one of the things wrong with the diving industry,
that the boat is liable for everything.
It's danger is that divers will believe it, and stop being responsible
for themselves.
I note that none of the leaders of the industry, WKPP, Sunshine Coast
Tours, Mike Ball, or Truth Aquatics are the LEAST concerned about
liability.
These boats allow, accomodate, and, in some cases, promote soloing, deco,
and mixed gas diving, far in excess of what any "sane" risk evalulator
would permit.
Why do you suppose that is?
Knowledge, professionalism, and experiance.
Without it, you're a fool to try to run a dive boat. With it, liability
is not an issue.
It does serve, however, as a heads-up to the alert diver that this boat
is not safe, when liability becomes an issue.
>The point is, sure, this individual has every right to off themselves
>however they please; so long as they do not adversely impinge on the
>rights of anyone else in doing so. It sounds cold, perhaps, but I am not
>going to allow some irresponsible buffoon's "right" to do whatever he
>wants to himself put MY ass on the line. No way. I do not subscribe to
>the line of thought that requires me to accept accountability for
>another's irresponsible behavior.
The ONLY way to reduce your exposure to zero is to remain on the beach.
Allow a diver aboard, and you are exposed. Period.
Your logic is fallacy, as a business owner, I assure you, there is NO
DEFENCE against nuisance suits, they happen like rain, without apparent
cause, and nothing can be done to prevent them. Nothing.
The only thing to be concerned about, therefore, is suits that have real
merit.
Nuisance suits go away, since they cannot be prevented, and are easily
disposed of, they are a non issue. They are the red herring of the
fearful, but they are not a real threat. If you loose a nuisance suit, or
if a nuisance suit cost you money, you need a new attorney. If you are an
attorney who looses, settles, or fails to collect damages for a nuisance
suit, you need a new career.
Which brings us back to the real threat, a suit that has merit.
What do you suppose prevents these suits?
Knowledge. Experiance. Expertise.
Those are the ONLY things that will help, and then the problem is not the
suit, because it never gets that far.
>
>You seem to think that your risk decisions are completely unfettered by
>their potential effects on the others around you. I agree with you that
>agencies, boats, etc. should not promise any more than they deliver, but
>to think that this will somehow ameliorate the liability threat is at
>best a layperson's misconception.
Yes, if a "layperson" is defined as a person lacking in the knowledge,
expertise, and experiance to run a boat. The beach is full of
ex-captains, and there is room for more.
>If a diver has the right to make his own risk evaluations without concern
>for how his decisions affect others, the why doesn't it follow that the
>agencies can limit their risk exposure in any way they see fit?
They can, and they do.
Fortunately, some of their efforts in doing so only serve as warnings to
those of us looking for expert Captains on well-run boats.
------------
"C'mon, you sons of bitches, you
want to live forever?"
-First Sergeant Dan Daly, 1918
------------
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