>From a H&S viewpoint it is amazing how often you see near accidents on the >canals that don't happen - almost as though there is a guardian angel of >boaters that don't know any better to look after them. In one classic case we saw the farther of a family on a hire boat was wandering about on top of his boat filming while they crossed the Ponty aqueduct. Backing without looking he fell over the boats rail and for a number of seconds was waving arms about to get his balance - rather than tipping backwards off the boat and aqueduct the odd 100' to the grond below. Finally he managed to get control yet, once he got to this stage he still carried on like nothing had happened backing and yelling at the crew to get in the photo. We were amazed how totally unbothered he and they were yet the small gap between death and survival in this case was obvious to us. We wonder if having control of a big metal boat reenforces the idea that some have that they are indistructable They charge around seeming to think that nothing can harm them - with little idea what can. (This goes for a lot of private and share boaters as well as hirers.) Given the potential dangers it is amazing how few accidents there are. Having said that it is not always the risk takers who get hurt - some are plain unlucky. n Fri, 31/7/09, Dorothy Robbie <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Dorothy Robbie <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [canals-list] Death at Cropredy To: [email protected] Date: Friday, 31 July, 2009, 1:02 PM ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 12:38 PM Subject: Re: [canals-list] Death at Cropredy > This absolutely dreadful. The news comes on a morning when I have been > involved in an incident that could have led to the death of a 4-year-old > due to the complete incompetence of adults responsible for her. > > For God's sake, canals can be dangerous. It is madness at Napton at the > moment. Brian was claiming yesterday he was in a queue of six coming down. > When I got to the top about 11am there were nine waiting with two more > coming round the bend. > > It's changeover day. People are rushing. Worse is that they've been on the > canals a week and think they know it all. > > I've moored in the country for an early lunch and to take some time out. I > am still shaken by both incidents. > > Steve > Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange > You are so right there, Steve. It only takes a moment's inattention to cause an accident and even the most experienced boater can get into trouble. I have witnessed people allowing their children to run about on the boat's roof in locks and all sorts of scary things. It's a wonder there aren't more fatalities. Having said that, I hope your experiences haven't spoiled your holiday, and that you feel better after lunch. Dorothy ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
