Posted by Chris on April 19, 2004 at 20:17:49:
In Reply to: Accident waiting to happen - responsibility? posted by JoeDiver on April 19, 2004 at 19:38:46:
You can’t protect people from themselves, nor would I want to live in a society that does. The best thing you can do is talk with his potential novice buddies and warn them. Part of living in a free society is the freedom to make bad choices.
I sometimes work as a divemaster, and when I do nine times out of ten I can see who is going to have problems before they even get it in the water. When that happens I try to talk with the diver(s) first, but in the end no one has control except the diver once they are in the water.
A large part of the problem is the continuous lowering of the bar for certification throughout the years. Dive certification was originally to ensure a diver was competent. Unfortunately it quickly developed into a marketing tool and economic pressure to lower standards has triumphed.
In fact I found that certification level bears no relation to diving ability. I have seen (and rescued) many instructors whose diving skills could best be described as “natural selection in action.”
In the end there is little you can do, otherwise who would you appoint as the “dive police?”