Posted by Dave on March 02, 2005 at 13:09:28:
In Reply to: What would happen if. posted by Richard on February 27, 2005 at 17:20:16:
The rougher it is, the greater the chance I am going to get creamed by the dive platform. In the calmest of waters, there is still surge and the platform is still moving up and down.
Who here amongst us doesn't immediately learn how to time our ingress onto the platform based upon when it surges up an down, down being the easiest to climb in.
If someone hits their head, it is their own fault. Sure, we could put all kinds of gyrostablized gizmos on dive platforms, but now you have to reinforce the transom, that means being out of the water for months for a retrofit, now we have to make sure the naval architect signs off on it, then the Coast Guard has to do the government intrusion thing all over again, now dive trips double in price, and all in the name of consumer safety!
Gee, maybe I should sue if I ascend under the platform, right up under the rear edge, and instead of surfing a few feet behind, I cream my brainless skull, but hey, there were no warning signs on the undersurface of the platform edge, if there were, the vistibility was too poor, and if the vis was good, hell, I am a blind braille diver, the warning should have been audio, and if they refused to let me board and dive as a blind diver, what the hell, I'll just sue for "discrimination" due to my Federally protected handicap!
Some people need to get a life.....
The questioning on the stand might go something like this:
Q: Were you aware that other boats had canceled?
A: Yes, I was.
Q: So why did you choose to go?
A: Because life is full of risks, it is only a matter of what you are willing to live with. I could eliminate all diving risks by telling people they can't dive off the boat, that way I could ensure even more safety.
Q: In light of my client's injuries, that was apparently a bad decision, wasn't it?
A: A bad descision by your client, nobody else got hurt, your client should have brushed up on their swim platform ingress skills. In 30 years, we have never had a dive platform injury, and after having over 10,000 episodes of divers climbing up on the step, it seems to indicate your client was especially careless. Your client was aware of the risks, it is quite obvious when the swim platform moves up and down from the swells, we all are aware of risks with engagin in a sport in the wild, we choose to accept those risks, your client chose to accept those risks, now they want to hold someone else accountable for their own choices.