Dozens of great Avalanche training videos on the web
Posted: January 11, 2010 Filed under: Avalanche 1 CommentWatching videos at home is not enough to think you can wander into the backcountry. This is especially true if you are from a state with no mountains or snow and talk funny!
The first step in proper avalanche awareness is always do not go outside if conditions are bad! If you are an idiot, have no idea what you are doing, have just read books or watched YouTube videos you have no clue what you are getting into. Instead of getting into a mess take an avalanche course from a respectable instructor and donate to your local search and rescue group.
Step two is become a member of your local avalanche forecasting organizations so you can access their database of information and receive their updates. If you don’t know your center or are going to explore a new area start at http://www.avalanche.org/
If you have taken a course or want to prepare for one the internet has produced many great videos. Most of the videos are produced byproduct manufactures, and consequently, you are getting some advertising in the video, but it the videos are well done you won’t care.
The group leading off with great videos is Backcountry Access (BAC). BAC is known as the distributor of the Tracker avalanche beacon. BAC videos include:
www.skinets.com has a few videos online.
Mountain Equipment Co-op has a video on testing snowpack.
Avalanche Safety | How to Techniques for a Compression Test
There are several great videos to keep you fresh and bring new techniques to a knowledge and skill set, I hope you never use.
For other posts about avalanches see:
Ortovox CheckandRide
Good article on Avoiding Avalanches…….don’t go where there are Avalanches
Great Articles in the latest WMS Journal
Avalanche Beacons and other electronic items
Italy make avalanche safety gear mandatory
Another Man Made Snow Avalanche
Avalanche: Man-Made Snow to the Ground
Copyright 2010 Recreation Law 720 Edit Law, Recreaton.Law@Gmail.com
LA Physician who stopped in front of cyclists sentenced to Five years
Posted: January 9, 2010 Filed under: Criminal Liability, Cycling Leave a commentUpdate of Criminal Trial Starts this week for MD who pulls in front of cyclists and slams on his brakes.
Christopher Thomas Thompson was sentenced to five years in jail for his conviction of five felonies and on misdemeanor. Thompson, 60, pulled in front of cyclists twice and slammed his brakes. The second time he severely injured two cyclists.
See L.A. road rage doctor gets five years
Copyright 2010 Recreation Law 720 Edit Law, Recreaton.Law@Gmail.com
Recreational Change to Colorado Water Access Coming in 2010
Posted: January 8, 2010 Filed under: Rivers and Waterways 2 CommentsCan a boater finally float down a Colorado river without having to worry about being arrested – Maybe!
A bill proposed for the 2010 Colorado Legislature that would allow boaters to float all Colorado Rivers. Currently, if you float the river if you do not touch the bottom or the bank. Although even this is in dispute by several landowners who say if they own both sides of the river, they can stop anyone from traveling on the river.
You probably will not be able to put in and take out on the land, only float through the land if the bill passes.
As many Colorado boaters know, this has led to dozens of fights over the years, including several landowners ordering boaters off rivers at gunpoint. (What prompts someone to believe that floating across their river is such a threat, they need a gun?)
The original issue started in 1979 with a Colorado Supreme Court Decision, The People of the State of Colorado v. Emmert, 198 Colo. 137; 597 P.2d 1025; 1979 Colo. LEXIS 814; 6 A.L.R.4th 1016, that stated you could float across the water in the state of Colorado as long as you did not touch the river bottom or the sides. The water owners own the water in Colorado. (Yes, for all of you in the east, people own the water in the rivers of the west not the state.) However, the landowner who could say someone who touched his land was trespassing owns the bank and river bottom. In most states, someone floating river could access the bank to the high water mark or something similar to that.
This has promoted all sorts of wars. Landowners, mainly fishing clubs and texas landowners would then dam or fence their rivers so that boaters could not float through without touching the land and have boaters arrested for trespassing. (Although in several cases, damming the river without EPA approval is a crime.) Eventually many district attorneys quit making those arrests because they were a nuisance. Front Range attorneys would line up to fight the $50 criminal charges inundating the small rural DA offices. (I have been in that line several times, arguing various defenses to the charges.)
Now that fight is coming to a head, hopefully, with the bill proposed by representative Kathleen Curry of Gunnison and backed by the Colorado River Outfitters Association (CROA). According to CROA rafting is a $142 million dollar business in Colorado employing hundreds (probably thousands) of people.
This is going to be an interesting fight. And it will be a fight. The landowners have been involved in litigation for years over these issues and will not go quietly. If you are a boater in Colorado, you need to be involved. You should do the following:
- Make sure the bill covers all boaters, not just rafters.
- Determine who your representative and senator are and tell them you support Representative Curry’s bill and want them to co-sponsor the bill. (Do not go online to determine this. The Colorado Legislature website does not tell you.) Go here to find your districts.
- Contact CROA and tell them you support their efforts and want to be contacted about the bill.
- Be prepared to phone your legislators when needed to get the bill out of a committee or before a vote.
If you are from out of state and boat in Colorado or just want to be involved.
- Contact CROA and let them know you want to help.
- Contact the President of the Senate Brandon C. Shaffer, 303-866-5291, brandon@brandonshaffer.com let him know you support the bill; and,
- Contact the Speaker of the House Terrance D Carroll, 303-866-2346, terrance.carroll.house@state.co.us
- When the bill has been proposed, contact the sponsors of the bill and thank them for sponsoring the bill and for their support.
This can pass the legislature, but it will require a lot of work and effort. Basically, it is going to be money (landowners) versus voices (boaters). Voices can win if they are heard.
To see an article about the bill see: River River River rights to come before Colo. lawmakers
$1.2 M award in horseback riding fatality in Wyoming
Posted: January 7, 2010 Filed under: Equine Activities (Horses, Donkeys, Mules) & Animals 2 CommentsA Wyoming jury has awarded $1.2 million dollars for the death of a woman in a horseback riding accident. Attorney for the family says this will prompt a review of safety standards in the equine industry.
I can see it coming next summer in Wyoming and many other states.
It is sad when a 21-year-old woman died, I do not want to make fun of her death. I am making fun of a jury and a system that says a woman taking horseback riding lessons can sue.
It appears from the article that no release was used and the defense was based solely on the Wyoming Recreation Statute. As I have said before that is a Swiss cheese statute, it has as many holes as it has defenses. Most statutes that purport to protect outdoor recreation providers do more damage than good. Equine statutes are the most infamous. Since equine liability statutes have been enacted, they have been 100% effective. No horse has been sued since the statutes have been passed. However, they have done nothing to stop lawsuits by people injured by horses or riding. It is stupid to rely on any statute to protect you in a lawsuit, always use a release written by an attorney.
It is also funny that the plaintiff’s lawyer is attempting to justify the large award as forcing the equine industry into being safer. It will not happen, if anything it will have the opposite effect. When insurance premiums go up because of this verdict, there will be less time and money to spend on safety.
However, we are talking about horses for heaven’s sake. I grew up with horses; they are beautiful; they are also dumb, unpredictable, flight, skittish, scared and scary! Horses are big and go fast. If you fall off a ladder five foot in the air, you expect to be hurt. If that ladder is traveling at 20 miles per hour, you should expect to be hurt worse.
See Lawyer: $1.2M verdict may boost horse safety
Alpine Rescue Team needs your help – PLB false alerts in Berthoud Pass (Colorado) area
Posted: January 1, 2010 Filed under: Search and Rescue (SAR) Leave a commentThese guys and gals are volunteers who get up in the middle of the night to save your butts for free. If you don’t know how to use your PLB, throw it away.
Over the past two weeks, the Alpine Rescue Team has been notified of three PLB activations in the Berthoud Pass (Colorado) area between Winter Park and the Jones Pass area. These PLB false alarms have occurred on three different dates, December 14, 23, and 24, and all involve the same PLB.
If anyone has recently started to use – or knows someone who has – a ACR PLB-300 Microfix (RescueFix) and visits the Berthoud Pass area, please contact the Alpine Rescue Team. You can send me a private message or call me directly. Right now there are no violations, penalties, laws broken, etc., however, we would like to talk with you so you can understand how your PLB works and does not work. If you don’t want to talk, at least keep your PLB turned off until you are in an actual life-threatening emergency.
Each detection of the PLB’s signal starts a cascade of rescuers beginning with the US Air Force, the Colorado State Search and Rescue Coordinator, the local sheriff, and finally the local mountain rescue team, which in these cases has been Alpine Rescue Team. Each false alarm requires significant effort and time by many people. On Christmas Eve, rescuers from three different mountain rescue teams spent the afternoon trying to directional find the intermittent signal.
You might be wondering why a PLB is so hard to pinpoint, especially if you have read any advertising or promotional materials about these devices. This unit is not registered so no simple phone call to the owner can be made to verify the alert. Also, this unit is being turned on and off and moved between activations, so the search area cannot be well defined giving a search area up to 10+ miles in radius. When used properly these new digital PLBs can usually be identified and located in minutes.
Again, if you have been in the Berthoud Pass area on these three dates and have an ACR PLB or know someone who has, please contact us via private message, or call Dale Atkins directly at 303.579.7292. There are no legal issues or laws broken; we very much would like to talk with you. As always the services of Alpine Rescue Team are free.
Copyright 2010 Recreation Law 720 Edit Law, Recreaton.Law@Gmail.com
OSHA Officially recommending helmets for ski area employees
Posted: December 27, 2009 Filed under: Ski Area Leave a commentThe Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has posted a recommendation on its website for employees of ski areas to wear helmets. The post is:
The OSHA post can be found at OSHA Quick Takes for December 1, 2009, Volume 8, Issue 22.
Another lawsuit against a Challenge Course and “bumbling chiropractors”?
Posted: December 24, 2009 Filed under: Challenge or Ropes Course 3 CommentsA woman is suing Beaver Hollow Conference Center of Java New York and Chiropractic Leadership Alliance for injuries she received on a challenge course. The plaintiff is claiming she fell off the pamper pole and the belay had too much slack in it.
She claims the retreat put her in a frightening situation. Is that not what a challenge course is supposed to be? She claims the course did not have proper supervision and adequate safeguards. I thought a belay was a safeguard when you are climbing? The group did not place a trained instructor with each group, negligently conducted the activity in a situation with slip hazards, which resulted in her fall.
Come on, was this woman not paying any attention to the beginning of the program. Do you want to bet she was in the back either talking to a friend or on her cell phone. I seriously doubt any challenge or ropes course would not go through an introduction explaining the program. Her complaint reads the way a challenge course should. The participants are going to experience a frightening situation with inexperienced participants and facilitating certain hazards.
The article is Docs’ ‘Confidence-Building’ Ends in Fall. To read the complaint go to http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/11/03/PoleFall.pdf
I still have not figured out where the bumbling chiropractors fit?
Comments about the Eastern Washington University sued over student death on a rafting trip
Posted: December 17, 2009 Filed under: Whitewater Rafting Leave a commentMore thoughts about the post Lawsuit filed over death of university student during school sponsored rafting trip.
Eastern Washington University is being sued over the death of a student on a whitewater rafting trip on the Clark Fork River in Montana. The freshman student fell from the raft and was trapped by a strainer.
A EPIC Adventure conducted the trip. The suit claims EPIC Adventure failed to understand the dangerous of the trip and had been informed of the strainer the day before the trip.
There are going to be no winners in this litigation except the attorneys.
The family will not get their daughter back and will attempt to confuse or substitute money, if they receive any for their daughter. That may also come as a sense of relief to find someone else was at fault for their daughter’s death, but I doubt it. The family will not win, even if they win. Litigation is a grueling wearing grinding way to achieve “justice.”
The university and all other students will lose, even if they win because the university will probably pull back from offering any more opportunities for the students to stretch and grow. This appears to be a freshman orientation program, which studies have shown, can increase the graduate rates of participants significantly.
So the only people who will win are the defense attorneys, they will be paid an hourly rate probably and possibly the plaintiff’s lawyers who may receive a percentage of any settlement or payment to the family.
No mention has been made of any defenses to the suit or if the student signed a release. What will probably never learn is, was there an indemnification agreement between the university and the outfitter for this type of issue.
Strainers kill people. Do you stop rafting, canoeing, kayaking, living every time a tree falls into a river? I hope not. However, that is what the lawsuit is claiming. Life should be put on hold until the world is perfectly safe and no one can get hurt. Therefore, after you read this, we should all climb back under the bed, turn on our little lights and then heave we are alive…..if you can call that living.
See Family sues university after daughter’s death
For other posts about fatalities and strainers, see Large Jury Award in death of 9 year old Camper and Common Mistakes made by Outfitters and Insurance Companies.
For other posts about suits against colleges and universities see Middlebury College getting sued over climbing wall accident by student, Ohio University settles lawsuit brought by injured student, Settlement reached in suit against Idaho State University group CW Hogs
For Outdoor Recreation Law Review Articles on cases against colleges or universities see Court decides participant cannot assume the risk of a team building exercise, College successfully defends student high altitude fatality, College loses suit by parents of deceased student from snow skiing class, Assumption of Risk and Inherent Risk in Higher Outdoor Education, Case Brief: Release Protects Gonzaga University from Lawsuit Following Student Death and State Law Prohibiting Releases.
MSA ANNOUNCES PLANS TO DISCONTINUE REDPOINT AUTO BELAY
Posted: December 10, 2009 Filed under: Challenge or Ropes Course, Climbing Wall 5 CommentsMSA is in the process of developing a reimbursement program for eligible Redpoint and Auto-Belay Descenders. The reimbursement program plans are currently being reviewed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Following the CPSC review, MSA plans to issue a recall notice to owners and distributors of the affected products, including instructions for the return of units.
It is important that the Stop-Use remain in effect. Please do not use any Redpoint Descender or affected Auto-Belay Descender. As a reminder, the Stop-Use Notice applies to the following descender units:
- All Redpoint Descenders (part numbers 10024873, 10027646, and 10027798) regardless of the date the unit was manufactured or last serviced;
- Auto-Belay Descenders (part number 10021806) manufactured or last serviced on or after June 30, 2000.
So when you go swimming in a swimming pool do you think there is chlorine in the water?
Posted: December 8, 2009 Filed under: Health Club 2 CommentsThe Edwardsville, IL Intelligencer is reporting in Man files suit against health club that a man has filed a lawsuit against a local health club for chlorine he ingested while swimming in the pool.
The plaintiff is claiming an employee improperly added the chlorine to the water. However, the article states the plaintiff ingested the water.
Do not drink the water if you smell chlorine. In fact, and this may come as a shock to many of you, but I would not drink any water from a swimming pool.
Middlebury College getting sued over climbing wall accident by student
Posted: December 3, 2009 Filed under: Climbing Wall 1 CommentThe Rutland Herald is reporting that Middlebury College is being sued by a student for an injury she received in on a climbing wall. The suit alleges she received injuries to her ankle from a fall in 2006.
The allegations seem to direct the claims at the safety mats which were inadequate and unsafe.
Looking over the Middlebury College website a release is downloadable on the climbing wall hour’s page. The release appears to be well written, however it does not have a venue and jurisdiction clause. The law suit is filed in New York which prohibits the use of releases, however a release has been upheld when used by a college or university climbing wall suit because the university was not a place of amusement.
See Former student sues over accident
For information on New York’s law on releases at they affect college or university climbing walls see State Law Prohibiting Releases and NY State Law Does Not Prohibit Releases in All Cases.
For other New York cases in college programs see Court decides participant cannot assume the risk of a team building exercise.
Any injury at a climbing wall is sad and ankle injuries are a pain both the injury and through the healing process. But the pads at the bottom of the wall are visible to anyone getting ready to climb. The thickness and arrangement should have been visible to the climber. At some point you have to look around you in life and make a decision about the risk. We developed eyes and a brain, senses in our feet and hands and all of those senses would have keyed someone into thinking about the issues of landing on those pads.
Bicycle accident numbers stay the same, but severity of injuries is increasing.
Posted: December 1, 2009 Filed under: Cycling 1 CommentHelmet use increased during study but did not significantly decrease injuries.
A study titled Increasing Severity Of Bicycle Injuries Leads To Concerns About Cycling Infrastructure raised concerns about the safety of cycling. Abdominal injuries increased 15% and chest injuries increased three-fold. Over the 11 year study period a total of 329 cycling injuries were studied at University of Colorado School of Medicine Rocky Mountain Regional Trauma Center at Denver Health Medical Center, Denver. Helmet use had increased during the study, yet 33 percent of the injuries involved a significant brain injury.
For more articles on the study See: Increasing Severity Of Bicycle Injuries Leads To Concerns About Cycling Infrastructure and Study: Bike Injuries Becoming More Severe.
$2.36 M awarded to boy kicked by horse during inner-city youth program
Posted: November 26, 2009 Filed under: Equine Activities (Horses, Donkeys, Mules) & Animals 1 CommentA Philadelphia jury has awarded $$2.36 million to a boy in an inner city program which “involved” youth in horseback riding and polo matches. The defendant was a well known local group called Work To Ride Inc.
The boy was kicked by the horse as it was being loaded into a trailer. The horse struck the youth in the face breaking his jaw and causing other injuries. The jury found the non-profit was 90% liable and the total award was reduced by 10% for the youth’s percentage of fault.
One issue here that appears a lot in cases like this is the discrepancy of knowledge between those who are used to wild things and those who are not.
If you grew up on a farm you know horses kick. If you grew up in a big city you expect that someone who is taking your children to do something with them will take them to a safe place to do safe things. You probably don’t know that horses kick.
Consequently when a horse kicks your son, you are going to be mad. People don’t let their children do dangerous things. Consequently when something a parent thought was safe turns out to be dangerous someone is mad. Mad equals lawsuit.
My other concern is the program in general. What long term skills or experience is someone from the inner city going to have by learning to ride a horse?
See Boy Awarded $2.36 Million for Horse Kick to the Face
A lawsuit settles before jury has opportunity to reach a decision
Posted: November 6, 2009 Filed under: Whitewater Rafting Leave a commentWe first commented on this in The word “Safe” comes back to haunt outfitter and travel agent.
The Federal District Court judge announced that the parties in this lawsuit had settled the case. The trial was scheduled for four weeks and settled after two weeks. The amount of the settlement was not announced.
See Parties Settle Lawsuit In Fatal Wyo. Raft Accident.
Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit against Dartmouth College over a fatality of a student at the college’s ski hill.
Posted: November 3, 2009 Filed under: Release (pre-injury contract not to sue), Ski Area Leave a commentGet a Good Attorney to Write your Release or Don’t Waste the Paper!
The suit was filed in Federal District Court in new hampshire. The college filed a motion for summary judgment based on the equipment rental liability release signed by the deceased. The judge ruled the release did not “specifically identify Dartmouth or inform a renter that he or she is relieving Dartmouth of liability.”
Another situation where your release needs to be written properly by an attorney familiar with your activity and your case law or state law.
See Judge Denies Dartmouth Request In Ski Death Case
Dex works
Posted: October 29, 2009 Filed under: First Aid, Mountaineering Leave a commentDexamathasone or Dex as it is commonly known has been shown to improve exercise capacity at high altitude. Dex has been shown to prevent HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) and AMS (acute mountain sickness). Now it has been shown to improve oxygen uptake and decreased the anaerobic threshold.
The study was reported in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
See Dex Improves High Altitude Exercise Capacity and Taking Dex Can Improve High Altitude Exercise Capacity In Certain Climbers, Study Finds.
USA Today Updates Issues with New Hampshire Law Billing For SAR’s
Posted: October 27, 2009 Filed under: Search and Rescue (SAR) Leave a commentContinued coverage of a Stupid Law. For Background see:
Update: Give me a break! Teen charged $25K for a rescue he did not need
Give me a break! Teen charged $25K for a rescue he did not need
USA Today in a great article Warning: Don’t get lost in New Hampshire brought out some interesting facts about new hampshire’s law that bills rescued people for their SARs.
- 13 other people have been billed for their SARs
- The average fee paid is $203
A new hampshire state official is quoted as saying “Bogardus says Mason was negligent because he did not turn back on the trail after he was injured.” Lt. Todd Bogardus, is the head of search and rescue for new hampshire’s Fish and Game Department However the lost teen attempted to take a short cut when he sprained his ankle. At what point does a shortcut not make sense when injured.
I cracked the frame on my Colnago road bike a couple of months back. It was a long walk back in bike shoes (with no friends answering their phones) so at one point I cut across a field. It was a shortcut. It was easier on my feet because it was shorter and softer than the concrete bike path. That shortcut worked for me.
Bogardus also admitted the actions of the state in billing Mason had placed the state on a hot spot.
Bogardus stated “And almost half of those hikers are from out of state, department records show.”
So let’s save new hampshire money and not go there.
Fatality in Triathlon when driver hits cyclists
Posted: October 20, 2009 Filed under: Triathlon Leave a commentA bicyclist in the E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park was killed by a drunk driver. When stopped by the police, the bicycle was still lodged in the windshield of the car. The driver had a history of drunk driving.
The triathlon was in its 28th year and sponsored by the park.
See Triathlete killed by hit-and-run driver. (The site charges for their articles so unless you really want to know what happened don’t hit the link.)
Lawsuit filed over death of university student during school sponsored rafting trip
Posted: October 13, 2009 Filed under: Whitewater Rafting 5 CommentsThe deceased, a freshman at Eastern Washington University drowned on the Clark Fork River which is west of Missoula Montana. She fell out of the raft at Tumbleweed Rapid and was found pinned under a log.
The issue seems to focus on the fact the guides were advised of the strainer the day before the trip and signs were posted at the put in.
See Family sues university after daughter’s death
For other articles about suits against colleges and universities see: Ropes course injury, Lawsuit against university outdoor program and Update on Ohio University Lawsuit
For Outdoor Recreation Law Review articles about suits against universities see: Court decides participant cannot assume the risk of a team building exercise, College successfully defends student high altitude fatality, College loses suit by parents of deceased student from snow skiing class and Assumption of Risk and Inherent Risk in Higher Outdoor Education.
Criminal Trial Starts this week for MD who pulls in front of cyclists and slams on his brakes.
Posted: October 12, 2009 Filed under: Criminal Liability, Cycling Leave a commentVeloNews is reporting that a criminal trial is starting this week in Los Angeles Superior Court. Dr. Christopher T. Thompson is on trial for multiple felony charges. Dr. Thompson owns a medical records company Touch Medix.
A year ago Dr. Thompson got mad at two cyclists riding abreast on a dead end road. The two were behind a larger group of cyclists. They had stopped to assist an injured cyclist. Dr. Thompson exchanged words with the cyclists about riding two abreast and then pulled in front of the cyclists and slammed on his breaks.
One cyclist hit the back of the car and the other went through the rear window.
Two witnesses at the trail are two other cyclists who had a similar confrontation with an identical car with an identical license plate three months earlier. Both of those cyclists were able to miss the car when it braked.
See California road-rage case heads for court
Grand Canyon River Trips on Sale
Posted: October 9, 2009 Filed under: Whitewater Rafting Leave a comment
Another multimillion dollar jury verdict in outdoor recreation
Posted: October 6, 2009 Filed under: Climbing Wall Leave a commentClimbing wall company hit with a $2.3 million dollar verdict for a broken ankle and fractured vertebrae
Boomers of Boca Raton Florida was sued by a 46 year old man for his injuries when a hydraulic cable attachment (?) failed causing him to fall to the floor. The defense argued they had no obligation to test and maintain the equipment.
However this information is coming from the Plaintiff’s attorney’s press release so it is suspect. The only information I could find was all based on this press release.
The defendant is a California based entertainment company Festival Fun Parks which owned the defendant Boomers. To see this article go to: Boomers in Boca Raton loses $2.3M verdict
For a list of other large judgments in the outdoor recreation arena see Payouts in Outdoor Recreation
For articles on other large payouts see: $4.7 million dollar verdict in climbing wall case against Alpine Towers in South Carolina Court and Death we have commented on allegedly has a $14 million verdict
What is in a Business Name: A Robbery if you are Black Diamond
Posted: September 24, 2009 Filed under: Climbing, Criminal Liability Leave a commentThis if funny, but at the same time scary. KSL TV is reporting in Robber apparently confused over loot at ‘Black Diamond’ company that a man attempted to rob Black Diamond Equipment Company of their precious jewels. Although many of us believe that Black Diamond skis, carabiners and other climbing and mountaineering equipment are precious and sometimes as expensive (J) I don’t think there is a big black market for those stolen jewels that a stupid thief could find.
If you see a Polynesian man in his 20s or 30s about 6 feet 3 inches tall with a medium build and a shaved head with a full-sleeve tattoo on his right arm wearing a large, distinctive square-faced watch on his left wrist driving a white 1990s Ford Escape-type SUV and selling climbing equipment it might be stolen.
Stupid crook!
Sometimes you want too much, sometimes you are greedy: WI plaintiff’s lawyers are killing their income source.
Posted: September 22, 2009 Filed under: Skiing / Snow Boarding 1 Comment
Wisconsin law would kill outdoor recreation specifically skiing in the state
The plaintiff’s bar is attempting to change the law concerning the determination of fault in a trial. As the law stands now before an injured plaintiff can win a lawsuit they must prove that they are not the primary party responsible for their injuries. That means they have to convince a jury that they are less than 49% liable for their injuries. The jury then decides what percentage of fault lies with all of the parties. The damages awarded are then divided according to that percentage of fault.
If a plaintiff is found 20% at fault they win (more than 49%) and any damages are reduced by 20%. This issue is called comparative negligence. The jury compares the negligence between the parties and determines the percentage of fault. That percentage of fault then determines if the plaintiff wins anything and if so, how much they are awarded.
The plaintiff’s bar in Wisconsin wants to lower that percentage to 1%. This means if the jury finds that the plaintiff was anywhere from 99 to 1% at fault the plaintiff still wins.
Breathing is about the only thing you can do and not have someone else be at least partly responsible……….. wait there is air pollution.
This would allow every injured person no matter how they received their injuries to sue and recover money for their damages.
The good news is insurance costs will not go up. This will be because no insurance will be available. Insurance companies will just not offer insurance for any recreation program in Wisconsin.
See Insurance change could send Wisconsin ski areas downhill. For additional articles explaining the legal issues see Ski resort found partially liable for skier injuries from a jump
Recreation Law 
