TarpleyG
October 7, 2003, 10:00 AM
Bear with me here. There is a link below to another chapter in the story of this lady that was stuck near the gap in a drawbridge as it was going up and couldn't hold on and subsequently fell/slid to her death on the sidewalk below.
I can see where this will go. The family will sue whatever authority they can get the most money out of. Mark my words.
Right now, the family is calling for "safer measures" to assure that this doesn't happen to anyone else. For those of you that don't live here or have any knowledge of how draw-bridges work I'll explain. WELL BEFORE the bridge-tender raises the bridge, he sounds an alarm. Now these are loud alarms/bells. So loud in fact, I can sometimes hear them while I am going up/down the intracoastal a mile away. After sounding the alarm, arms go down over the sidewalk and the road with warning lights on them to stop pedestrians and car traffic. In addition, there are stoplights overhead that are red. Once all the traffic, both foot and auto, has crossed over, the tender makes a visual inspection to see if everyone is off and raises the sections and the boat waiting goes under and the bridge goes back down and the arms raise and its business as usual.
Now, I have lived here for over three years and this is the very first time I have heard of someone getting trapped, let alone killed, while walking across one of these bridges yet the family is wanting to "make them safer."
I guess my question and concern revolves around where do you draw the line making things "safer"? The setup we have now seems safe enough to me. If there were people perishing 2 or 3 times a year, maybe we should look into it, but for one person? I want to relate this to other things that have been misused or otherwise deemed unsafe. Guns are now required to have built-in locks in some states. I see a trend here and am willing to bet it will catch on although it does absolutely no good to a responsible gun owner. In fact, it could cost him HIS life later on trying to fumble with the stupid thing in an attempt to use it.
What about other things that are too safe? We are too safe and sterile in this country. I blame the money-grubbing lawyers. Our buckets have warning labels on them. Our coffee has warning labels. Hair dryers have labels that state that you should not use the device while in the tub. Who in the hell is that stupid anyway.
STOP THE INSANITY!!!
GT
Story in Sun-Sentinel (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-scbridge07oct07,0,5221353.story?coll=sfla-news-broward)
I can see where this will go. The family will sue whatever authority they can get the most money out of. Mark my words.
Right now, the family is calling for "safer measures" to assure that this doesn't happen to anyone else. For those of you that don't live here or have any knowledge of how draw-bridges work I'll explain. WELL BEFORE the bridge-tender raises the bridge, he sounds an alarm. Now these are loud alarms/bells. So loud in fact, I can sometimes hear them while I am going up/down the intracoastal a mile away. After sounding the alarm, arms go down over the sidewalk and the road with warning lights on them to stop pedestrians and car traffic. In addition, there are stoplights overhead that are red. Once all the traffic, both foot and auto, has crossed over, the tender makes a visual inspection to see if everyone is off and raises the sections and the boat waiting goes under and the bridge goes back down and the arms raise and its business as usual.
Now, I have lived here for over three years and this is the very first time I have heard of someone getting trapped, let alone killed, while walking across one of these bridges yet the family is wanting to "make them safer."
I guess my question and concern revolves around where do you draw the line making things "safer"? The setup we have now seems safe enough to me. If there were people perishing 2 or 3 times a year, maybe we should look into it, but for one person? I want to relate this to other things that have been misused or otherwise deemed unsafe. Guns are now required to have built-in locks in some states. I see a trend here and am willing to bet it will catch on although it does absolutely no good to a responsible gun owner. In fact, it could cost him HIS life later on trying to fumble with the stupid thing in an attempt to use it.
What about other things that are too safe? We are too safe and sterile in this country. I blame the money-grubbing lawyers. Our buckets have warning labels on them. Our coffee has warning labels. Hair dryers have labels that state that you should not use the device while in the tub. Who in the hell is that stupid anyway.
STOP THE INSANITY!!!
GT
Story in Sun-Sentinel (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-scbridge07oct07,0,5221353.story?coll=sfla-news-broward)