Accidents no longer exist

[codprawn]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/4740919.stm

"An arrest warrant has been issued for a teenager in Cyprus after his jet-ski killed his girlfriend while they were on holiday.
Hannah Sutton, 16, from Cheshire, died after the 17-year-old lost control of the jet-ski and rode over her off the island's Pissouri beach.
Her mother, Lynn, a schoolteacher at a British military base on the island, watched in horror from the shore.
The youth, who is still in hospital, faces possible manslaughter charges."

Why is it these days that - no matter what happens - accidents are never just accidents???

You often here of someone being prosecuted for "killing their girlfriend or mate" in a car crash etc. What the hell does it achieve???

[rama]

Or hows about my friend who after dropping someone off, was trolling through a mooring field at between 4 and 6 kts at night with nav lights (sober)
hit a dinghy, Tender to a charter boat with 4 kids in it (all under 15 and 2 of them over 2 times the limit) No lights on the dinghy the 2 kids died
Very Tragic and should not have happened,
however ,
Should he have been found guilty of 2 counts of manslaughter?
Fortunately the judge unlike the jury had been listening during the trial and whilst the jury had their minds made up from before the trial even began she passed a sentance of $60.000

A lot of money but no jail time for a tragic ACCIDENT!!!!!

[pettal]

There has to be a due care on both side, not just the poor schmuck that happens to be driving.

Jet ski's are inherently dangerous, you are travelling at speeds equivelant to a motorbike with no helmet or safety gear apart from a lifejacket. If both were jet skiing then as part of taking the jet ski out shouldn't you be admitting your own liability?

I mean you wouldn't go sticking your head into a sharks mouth coz it's advertised on the beach for $50 a go without considering the consequences of your actions.

Same goes for p*ssed up kids farting around after their bedtime in small dinghies in the dark. If your gonna make it hard for people to see you, not wear the correct gear and be half cut then there should be no excuse.....cause of death "Stupidity, your honour".

[ashbypower]

It would appear that the Youth was riding the Ski ilegally as the Minimum age to hire a Jetski in Cyprus is 18 So accident or not it appears to have been that a law has been broken Also the guy's who rented the Ski are under investigation.

Brian

[thebigrib]

its always the same when i am away on me hols, anyone from kids to OAP's and all those in between can hire anything from a a scooter, motorbike, jet ski or even 7ft+ rib which i hired with ease in greece,2000.

these kind of incidents will always happen as the authorities abroad are quite slack.

Remember Kirsty Maccoll death in mexico a few years back, no one has been prosocuted!

[Andy]

Originally Posted by rama

she passed a sentance of $60.000

What did your friend do wrong, it's sounds like nothing!

[Arctic RIB]

Power to weight ratio is far too high for such young people to realize the implications of opening up the throttle. In Canada you must be 21 to rent one but if the renter allows someone under age drive it there is no point in even having such laws. Fines should be extremely high for anyone who drives anything near a swimming zone, something like $10,000 and hold your watercraft for a month, no warnings just fines and 200 hours of community service.

[eupa]

Why is it these days that - no matter what happens - accidents are never just accidents???

Cant let that one go Codders. The word accdent is used too loosely. A real accdent is when you are driving at 20 mph, paying attention, and a kid runs out in front of you between two parked cars. 99% of accidents are down to:
( excludes air accidents)

- carelessness
- in-experience
- plain stupidity

There was a post some time ago by Rob Jones who showed us a video of jumping off a rib at 30 mph " for the fun of it ". That was just stupidity, If you get grown-ups doing that, how can you expect kids to behave in a responsable manner?
If you are driving a rib at night- get a radar - or in your case ( excellent) NVG.s. I am not being a "granny" but life is too short to throw it away

Jonathan

[John Kennett]

Originally Posted by eupa

There was a post some time ago by Rob Jones who showed us a video of jumping off a rib at 30 mph " for the fun of it ". That was just stupidity

I would assess the risk to be similar to waterskiing, or being towed on an inflatable.

Conditions were good, they were wearing wetsuits and life jackets. Why do you think it's stupid?

John

[eupa]

Conditions were good, they were wearing wetsuits and life jackets. Why do you think it's stupid?

Because it does not need to much imagination to see what could EASILY go wrong- the guy could have slipped- i believe it was pretty damp. But in this case why tempt providence?- I was taught that when ribbing, you cant be safe enough. Heavens man ,we have open machinery, propellers spinning around,and I know only too well what can happen with 3.5 hp lawnmowers as my right forefinger knows only too well. Why dont we ask Mr. Jones to stand in front of a turboprop and see how near he can get without being turned into mince-meat??

Jonathan