B.C. rescuers stop service after lawsuit

Rescues, fires, weather, roads, trails, water, etc.
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Ze Hiker
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Post by Ze Hiker »

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Hikin_Jim
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Post by Hikin_Jim »

There were a lot of mistakes made on that one, and the guy's wife did die, but still, you don't sue the SAR volunteers. Sue the resort, sue the government, but don't sue people who are voluntarily giving up their time and putting themselves in harm's way.
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Kit Fox
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Post by Kit Fox »

Ski area markers line the ski run looking towards the Stairway to Heaven chairlift at Kicking Horse Mountain resort in Golden, B.C., in February, 2009. A Quebec couple skied out of bounds before being lost for nine days in the back country. (CP/Jeff Bassett, file)


The couple did it to themselves, it was never the fault of S&R.
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AlanK
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Post by AlanK »

It's like suing a gun manufacturer after a game of Russian Roulette.

I know, it's probably been done.
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Tim
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Post by Tim »

Apparently what happened was that the search subjects stamped some SOS signals into the snow which was spotted by a helicopter operated by Purcell Heli Ski. The SOS was reported to RCMP and was acted on but this did not result in a search being initiated because of some mis-communication. The RCMP Sgt. felt bad enough about this that he issued a formal apology:

http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_roc ... 68474.html

In hindsight, some things could have been done better by RCMP. But then again, a whole bunch of things could have been done better by the search subjects! For one thing, if you're going to stamp out an SOS, stay by the freaking signal! Or carry some basic survival equipment with you. Or tell someone where you are going. But you don't see the search subjects getting sued.

The fact that he is suing the RCMP AND the SAR team AND the ski resort means this guy is an ass. Sorry for being politically incorrect, but I'm sick and tired of people not taking responsibility for themselves. I'm tired of all the bailouts and the blaming everyone but yourself.

If you willfully go out of bounds then you accept the risks. The code of a true outdoorsman is self-sufficiency. Getting rescued when in a jam is a bonus. You don't do this stuff unless you are prepared to die--thus you do everything you can to prevent that from happening. That's how it should be.

Instead, these asses go and sue everyone in sight and then ruin it for everyone else because no SAR team is going to want to help anyone anymore because they'll be too afraid of being sued or they'll have to carry some huge insurance policy. If the world has come to a point where you can get a huge pay off for being an ass, then we as as society are finished. Hell, that's already happening now with all these banks so we are already finished.
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AW~
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Post by AW~ »

Its a lot easier to sue than people think....see for example
"SOTO v. UNITED STATES(Angeles National Forest)"
http://classweb.gmu.edu/erodger1/prls56 ... t/soto.htm

Classic excerpts from our court system...for example in regards to it being obviously dangerous to jump into the pool, the court said this...
"To a large extent these remarks reflect ordinary prudence, rather than special expertise"(required).

While they found Soto negligent and that his own negligence was a proximate cause of his injury(for jumping into a waterhole at Stoneyvale in the big Tujunga)..."25 percent of the fault should be apportioned or attributed to plaintiff Soto and 75 percent to defendant Forest Service"

Of course there were other insidious rulings such as the Forest Service setting up Soto for an injury because of his race.

"The District Ranger remarked that if signs were to be put up they would have to be in Spanish and "Asian".....This racial overtone is unfortunate and, undoubtedly, was a contributing factor in the Forest Service's failure to carry out its mission in this racially heterogenous metropolis"

Course there are other cases...for example
Mackintosh v. State of California, Department of Transportation
http://www.cheastylaw.com/articles/Cali ... Search.pdf
"The negligence claims against Caltrans brought by a woman who alleged
that she slipped and fell on snow after leaving a public restroom located
off State Route 2 were denied by a Los Angeles County jury on June 29.
Myrle Mackintosh sued the state agency, claming that she fractured her
leg while trying negotiate a snowy path. She argued that state was
negligent in the manner which it cleared the turnout off SR 2. The state
argued that the federal government owned the property on which the
restroom was located and, as such, should have removed the snow, and
that it only did so as a courtesy. An action against the United States is
pending."
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Taco
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Post by Taco »

Image


From what I know, mankind has it's ups and downs... much like climate change, it's natural, and it moves in cycles, however equal or unequal. One would hope that the 'stupid' that infects our society will soon be repalced.

As Tim said...
The code of a true outdoorsman is self-sufficiency.
Simple as that.

You reap what you sow.


And in AW's post, seriously, people like that should be removed from the USA. If it was my National Forest, I'm sure I'd get sued thousands of times a year. IMHO, all signs should be in English, EXCLUSIVELY. PERIOD. No more of this f*#&$ing accommodating bullshit. Learn our language or GTFO.

So f*#@!&$#*!%&!#%*&!#ing tired of this.
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Zach
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Post by Zach »

Tim wrote: The code of a true outdoorsman is self-sufficiency. Getting rescued when in a jam is a bonus. You don't do this stuff unless you are prepared to die--thus you do everything you can to prevent that from happening. That's how it should be.


Well said. :D
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Richard N.
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Post by Richard N. »

I just wonder when some family will be sueing the alcohol company's when there son or daughter is killed by a drunk driver.
Its bound to happen sooner or later.
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mattmaxon
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Post by mattmaxon »

This is just F*&@ up

The volunteers should be shielded by good samaritan laws

As the saying goes "No good deed goes unpunished"

I have often wondered what motivates SAR team members given all the potential legal ramifications

These people should be kissing the ground these SAR team members walk on for saving their sorry asses

Matt
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simonov
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Post by simonov »

Tim wrote:If you willfully go out of bounds then you accept the risks.
Unless you own an investment bank leveraging your portfolio of mortgage-backed securities by 30 to 1. Then you have the leaders of both wings of our party in power to look after you when the music stops, and protect your vacation home in the Hamptons.

After all, what kind of a society allows wealthy, politically-connected investment bankers to lose their vacation homes when the markets turn against them? Would any one of us want to live in such a society?
Richard N. wrote:I just wonder when some family will be sueing the alcohol company's when there son or daughter is killed by a drunk driver.
Its bound to happen sooner or later.
States attorneys general have been suing gun makers and gun dealers on precisely the same grounds for years. So far they have never won a case, but that hasn't stopped them trying. After all, it's not their money.
Nunc est bibendum
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Tim
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Post by Tim »

simonov wrote:Unless you own an investment bank leveraging your portfolio of mortgage-backed securities by 30 to 1. Then you have the leaders of both wings of our party in power to look after you when the music stops, and protect your vacation home in the Hamptons.

After all, what kind of a society allows wealthy, politically-connected investment bankers to lose their vacation homes when the markets turn against them? Would any one of us want to live in such a society?
Oh man, don't get me started on this! I won't shut up! Government Sachs is about to pay out their biggest bonuses in its 140 year history (after of course robbing us blind, those god-damn filthy puss-filled scumbag leeching bastards):

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/arch ... nuses.html

America is finished. Hell, probably all of western society is going down. There is no honor anymore. It's all about taking whatever you can. It's all a Ponzi scheme now to take whatever they can before the last man runs out of money. The level of corruption is incredible and even more incredible is how no one is protesting about this. Maybe everyone is too busy playing with their new iPhones (hence 1 million 3G S have already been sold).
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