Posted by Kendall Raine on August 16, 2002 at 10:44:19:
In Reply to: Re: Hey Tim posted by Greg Wright on August 15, 2002 at 19:54:09:
Greg;
I agree with you totally that this is the land of the free and that includes the right to do dumb things-like do a 150' air dive on a 50. I agree that diving should be a self-regulated activity.
Please consider, however, that the poor judgement that resulted in the death of Darren Douglass and his 14 year old son were tragedies which effected many people other than those involved. The incident was 100% preventable. It was not an act of God. It was hubris and stupidity and I defy anyone with knowledge of the facts to argue that with me.
The incident had a terrible impact on Darren's family-he left a wife and three surviving children. The incident got much media attention and made it very difficult to get a charter to the Moody, or any technical charter, for years afterward. My point is an individual's actions can effect many other people.
That's what Tribes is getting at and why he was addressing Tim and Chris specifically. Tribes was not suggesting any new rules, regulations or advocating one training agency over another. He was saying that people who know better should be proactive in disassociating from situations which are flawed on their face. Techniques for extended range diving developed or adopted by the sport diving community over the last thirty years have made doing dives like the Moody much safer. The information and training thereto is available from many sources. Some of the divers on the trip in question seemed to ignore many of these principles. If highly experienced people in the community like Chris and Tim don't take an active role in trying to either show those people a better, safer, way, or exclude them outright, the community as a whole has failed to regulate itself.