People who ignore storm warnings

[suedent]

There I was having my morning cuppa & having a look through the West Briton website & what do I spot? Yet another couple narrowly escaping death at Porthleven all because they were trying to get a photo of the waves.

In another case a man in Penzance had to be rescued after he tried to retrieve a lost glove & got swept away.

It's not as if fair notice wasn't given about the storm & even 400 miles away I know people in Devon & Cornwall were being told to stay well away from the seafronts & harbours. These people might feel foolhardy enough to risk their own necks but I just wish they'd stop for a moment & think about those who have to risk their necks to rescue them when they get into difficulties.

I know it's not a Westcountry problem, we have a pier in Roker that's popular with fishermen. When the weather gets bad the gates are locked. This doesn't deter the idiot minority, they climb over the gates & thus risk their own lives & those of others.

Perhaps these idiots should be handed the bill for their rescue, if common sense doesn't prevail perhaps the thought of being hit in their wallets might give them pause for thought.

[busyglen]

I heartily agree Sue.

We were watching the news which contained shots of idiots, trying to take photos on the edge of a pier, and running back when the waves broke over the rails. Also people walking (or staggering against the wind) along sea-fronts, with the waves crashing over them.

Really stupid!!

Glenys

[Pandad]

These idiots include the TV and press idiots, who turn up to take picture of these idiots, then show these idiots on TV. |scold|

[Guest]

Perhaps these idiots should be handed the bill for their rescue, if common sense doesn't prevail perhaps the thought of being hit in their wallets might give them pause for thought.

Totally agree Sue.

Graham

[MarkJ]

Difficult to enforce though. Who decides if the person in trouble is in that predicament because of their own foolish behaviour or not?
I would agree that those who are stupid enough to play around in dangerous conditions (or on motorways, train tracks etc) should be responsible for paying for any services called out on their behalf, but it is going to be hard to prove. Unless they go for a blanket charge - rather like the one made by hospitals if you are involved in a road traffic accident and require treatment. The risk with that method is that people in a real emergency may "put off" calling for help from say the Coastguard until it is too late.

Mark

[busyglen]

We have all of these stupid people causing mayhem, and then amidst it all, we get something outstanding happen.

Lunchtime I was watching the SE News, and there was an item which showed a video camera shot, of a huge tree at a school, falling down across the roadway in the path of a car turning into it. The Headmaster had seen what was happening, and ran down, along the road, just as it fell,which luckily missed him, and waved to the car for it to stop. If he hadn't done so, the man and child in the car would have been injured. He never gave a thought to himself or whether he might be hurt.

Glenys

[Peter_uk_can]

I can remember the days when the world wasn't given storm warnings and yet folk seemed to know when there was one by looking out the window.

I guess folk were much cleverer back then...;)

[Guest]

Difficult to enforce though. Who decides if the person in trouble is in that predicament because of their own foolish behaviour or not?

Same as with any other case where evidence is needed I suppose - might take a court in a minority of cases but I expect most would be straightforward, especially when warnings had been issued and people had travelled some distance to be in the danger spot (or had climbed gates etc as Sue mentioned).

Graham

[Guest]

I can remember the days when the world wasn't given storm warnings and yet folk seemed to know when there was one by looking out the window.

I guess folk were much cleverer back then...;)

Yes, they knew they were responsible for their own actions and that accidents happen - instead of looking for somebody else to blame (and take to court) at the drop of a hat.

Graham

[Guest]

Likewise our climbing net was quite high - about two or three infant heights and there was no soft landings! If you hurt yourself, you were given the relevant treatment (a plaster usually) and sent back out to play.

That's nowt - we had proper big trees to fall out of - and we did :D:D

Don't tell anybody though, they might close the countryside :D

Having said that, many of the fields where we used to play are now covered in houses :(

Graham

[suedent]

Indeed! When I was a young boy, at my infant school in Newquay, one of our playground "toys" was an old car - a real one. It didn't move - I expect it was fixed in some way to the floor, but all the rest was there - including broken windscreen bits around the floor and various places. We used to collect them up as "diamonds" - imagine what the "Wooly Pully" brigade would make of that today! Likewise our climbing net was quite high - about two or three infant heights and there was no soft landings! If you hurt yourself, you were given the relevant treatment (a plaster usually) and sent back out to play.

Mark

In Longstone Park in Saltash there used to be a Traction Engine, if we were visiting my nan we used to pester for a trip to the park.

It has now been removed as it's unsuitable/unsafe for children. Funny how generations of children managed to play on it without coming to any serious harm.

[Jan1954]

In Longstone Park in Saltash there used to be a Traction Engine, if we were visiting my nan we used to pester for a trip to the park.

It has now been removed as it's unsuitable/unsafe for children. Funny how generations of children managed to play on it without coming to any serious harm.

At Hatfield House (where Liz Mk 1 found out she was Queen) there used to be an old WW2 tank in the grounds. The gubbins inside (electrics etc) had been stripped out but the rest was there - seats, the odd handle (not connected). We had great fun playing in it and on it. Doubt that it's still there...

[Alan Welsford]

At Hatfield House (where Liz Mk 1 found out she was Queen) there used to be an old WW2 tank in the grounds. The gubbins inside (electrics etc) had been stripped out but the rest was there - seats, the odd handle (not connected). We had great fun playing in it and on it. Doubt that it's still there...

Due to government cutbacks, I believe it's been reclaimed and pressed into service in Iraq. :D

[Peter_uk_can]

Due to government cutbacks, I believe it's been reclaimed and pressed into service in Iraq. :D


Indeed it has, but only after a 30 year 40 billion pound refit. The latest news is that it will have to undergo even more modifications. One of the turret hatch covers is missing and there is a bad draught that keeps extinguishing the blue touchpaper everytime they want to shoot something. The MOD announced only last week that following a succesful bid on E-Bay, they will soon be receiving a replacement hatch cover, that is once they can overcome a small credit score problem that prevented them from opening a Pay-Pal account.

[Jan1954]

Indeed it has, but only after a 30 year 40 billion pound refit. The latest news is that it will have to undergo even more modifications. One of the turret hatch covers is missing and there is a bad draught that keeps extinguishing the blue touchpaper everytime they want to shoot something. The MOD announced only last week that following a succesful bid on E-Bay, they will soon be receiving a replacement hatch cover, that is once they can overcome a small credit score problem that prevented them from opening a Pay-Pal account.

You are wicked, Peter! |scold| And so are you, Alan! |scold|

My grandfather was one of the first tank drivers in WW1 :)

[Peter_uk_can]

My Great Uncle was in France when the first shot of WW1 was fired.


He was back home in bed before they fired the second.
(Thanks to the late Les Dawson)

[susan-y]

.

Perhaps these idiots should be handed the bill for their rescue, if common sense doesn't prevail perhaps the thought of being hit in their wallets might give them pause for thought.

Recently 2 men in the Vancouver, BC area were charged the cost of their rescue after getting horribly stranded in an out-of-bounds area while backcountry snowboarding. This is happening more frequently and the search and rescue services have said if its your fault .. you will pay!
Here in Ontario, if you drive on a closed road in a snowstorm( for example) your insurance is null and void and you can be fined as well.
Unfortunatly you can't stop idiots for being idiots.

Sue

[Ladkyis]

What a lot of people who stand and watch the waves crashing over the seafront don't realise is that it isn't just water coming over there, it is rocks and sand and anything else that has been sucked up by the water.
I don't understand how people cannot be aware of the power of water. They look at the Grand Canyon and peer down a mile into its depths, they know it was carved by water and yet... well I just hope it is only a small rock that clonks them on the head as they laugh and run away from the "only water"

[swisschick]

Here in New Hampshire, USA we are always reading of hikers, snowmobilers etc getting stranded in the mountains during storms or wandering in unchartered areas totally unprepared. The emergency search and rescue service has now begun to charge the irresponsible individuals for the costs of their rescues.

[suedent]

I was brought up on the Cornish Coast & from being tiny we were warned of the dangers from the sea. It makes me cringe when I see children on inflatables, teenagers tombstoning (every summer their are always deaths/serious spinal injuries despite the warnings) and general recklessness.

As a teenager I lived near the Moors & we were taught to respect the moors & the changeability of the weather.

Even when walking the coastal path I take basic precautions like letting someone know where I am going & giving them an eta. It's not difficult.

Many people have to do Risk Assessments at work yet they don't put the same principles into action when dealing with their leisure time.

One that really annoyed me recently here in the NE. A tourist decided to go too close to the edge of a waterfall despite many warning signs (and the all too obvious dangers to anyone that opened their eyes). The inevitable happened & he fell over the edge. After the inquest his family were calling for the area to be fenced off. No admission that a grown man should take responsibility for his own actions!

[Guest]

As a teenager I lived near the Moors & we were taught to respect the moors & the changeability of the weather.


Having been brought up in the Peak District I can relate to that.

We were normally very careful, the exception being one glorious summer day when we (a group aged around 12 to 15) decided to go for a relatively short walk over to the next valley. One minute it was glorious sunshine and the next we were in the middle of a raging thunderstorm.

We knew where we were and that we were never far from shelter - but it was certainly something I've never forgotten.

Graham

[Peter_uk_can]

I lived in Yorkshire for 55 years and have walked the moors, fells and highlands in all conditions. After moving to Canada I found many people were perhaps inclinded not to believe the statement, "you can die up there" when I refered to these places, according to their maps the whole of Great Britain is only 3 inches long and less than 1 inch across at the widest point.

[shirley barrette]

In Australia ,During heavy seas a middle eastern family group were taking a stroll along the rocks with waves crashing in HELLO 7 people were drowned then they sued the local council for not sign posting or fencing the rocks apparently were paid out of court to save lenghty court case costs etc which i totally disagree on , it would be nigh impossible to fence all the coastline where people may walk

[spison]

Shirley,
Great idea but signposting wouldn't work. South of Newcastle, NSW is a magnificent coastal area called Fraser Park. Many fishermen (and women) go there to fish off the rock platform. Despited many signposts of the dangers of doing so (and I'm sure they're in more than one language but may be mistaken), many turn their backs to the waves (a no no in Aus) and are washed off needing rescuing. Idiots!
Jane