Posted by Jason on August 10, 2000 at 17:07:47:
In Reply to: This is really gotten out of hand... posted by msblucow on August 10, 2000 at 15:09:55:
The response to your motorcyling analogy were apt, and appropriate.
It is another sport where it is very easy to get yourself killed
if you don't think about what you're doing.
The problem is that you think it's ok to try to force people
to avoid risk. Once you start allowing that, it's a trivial
step to conclude the activity isn't appropriate at all. I don't
NEED to ride a motorcycle, or to dive in the water. Given
that the lid law had nothing to do with protecting riders,
it would be an easy step to kill motorcycles entirely, in exactly
the same way our society is attacking smokers.
EMTs and DMs have to be prepared to deal with death in their work.
If they're not, they should get out. Realistically, a California DM
shouldn't allow anyone over 35 into the water without a report
from their cardiologist if they want to avoid accidents. That
would be extremely effective in cutting down our local deaths.