Local man dies for freedom of choice

[Gary Fowler]

There are some ways to regulate and still give the people a choice. There has been lots of reference here to using helmets for riding. In Texas, most folks think that you can ride without a helmet if you are over 18. Truth is that you can be ticketed for riding without a helmet unless you can prove that you have medical insurance that will pay for your bills and long term care if you are injuried. Most of the police dont bother the riders, but that is the legislation. All minors must have helmets. So that is at least one regulation that I can live with.
As far as government mandating safety regulations, that does not stop folks from killing themselves. The only way for a person to be safe is to have a value for safety. Rules dont make you safe they just give you something to break if you have no value for following safe practices. I work heavy construction and have worked in lots of foreign countries and see the varied degree of safety that the workers exhibit and that companies enforce. Currently I am in Mexico as a Quality Consultant for a Mexican company and the degree of non-compliance to US safety rules is unbelievable. I think this is mostly because the companies have very limited liability for an accident. If a person is killed, the company is only liable for $10K in equivalent USD. IF USA companies only had that much liability, how much of the current safety standards do you think we would have. Money drives everything even with the OSHA rules, many employers still think only of the dollars that the risk would entail if the worst happened. Thankfully my parent company is not one of those companies and we try to show these guys how to do it with safety and quality. Sometimes they listen, many times they dont and take the risk.

 

[arrow]

I'll bet the folks here that are spouting off about personal freedoms would be the first to file a lawsuit if their child was injured by a toy that malfunctioned and put the kid's eye out![/QUOTE]

And there in lies the real reason for "safety" related legislation. We had a lawyer up here suing the helmet manufacturer after a cyclist got broadsided at an intersection. The claim was that his full face helmet prevented peripheral vision and hearing so therefore the manufacturer was negligent. Much of our legislation in this regard doesn't thank its roots to safety but litigation no matter how it looks. I some times think I am naive to think that seatbelts were put in cars because someone cared for my well being as opposed to an intial lawsuit back in the late 50's or early 60's. Or , as why we have computers in cars, some one could make a buck. As a previous poster alluded, "just follow the green" Cheez I'm quite the jaded one. And maybe deservedly so since I'll get fined $75 for not wearing my seatbelt but that entire overweight family whose march toward death is decidedly slower, gets to have their indisrectian of themselves and their children totally free.

 

[Soundguy]

Consumer product safety laws... lots of money to be had by all the attorneys..

soundguy

 

[Gator6x4]

True story, believe it or not:

One of the reasons why we have safety rules, safety regulations, safety stickers and other laws.

Ms Smiley face, applied for a job as a delivery person. She was put through the standard new employee training routine. After a couple of months on the job, one afternoon she had a flat tire. She retrieved the bumper jack from the storage area, placed the jack in the top center of the rear wheel well and proceeded to jack the vehicle up from the side and the top of the wheel well. She damaged the side of the vehicle in doing so. She then proceeded to remove the lug nuts. Don’t ask me how I don’t know. Then as she was trying to pull the tire from the wheel hub and around the jack, she knocked the vehicle off the jack. Her arm was broken. The company terminated her for damage to vehicle and violation of safety standards. She appealed her dismissal for wrongful termination. She argued she was not shown or trained on how to place the jack or how to change a tire by the Safety Officer during her orientation. She was ordered reinstated and the Safety Officer disciplined for failure to show Ms Smiley face how to change a flat tire. The Safety Officer advised he in his many years of employment had never had to show or explain to someone the proper way to change a flat tire on a motor vehicle.

Bottom line the Safety Officer received three days off with out pay. Ms Smiley face was reinstated and all lost wages and seniority restored.

The Safety Officer then to prevent such action against him in the future sent management a memorandum listing all employees of the Company and the date and time for remedial training on how to change an automobile tire.

After all somebody had to pay beside Ms. Smiley face.

 

[bluechip]

Unused safety equipment has added millions, probably billions of dollars to the cost of the products we buy... on the other hand, needing to use one of these features is priceless to the person who's life was spared or injuries midigated by them. I leave it to the readers of this thread to decide for themselves if its a fair trade off. One good thing about tractor ROPS, it makes a handy place to hand a sunshade.

I'll add one more thought, one thing that might be worse than operating a tractor without a ROPS, would be running one with one without a seatbelt.... I won't ask who has done that either.

Oh. one more: everbody dies. No one gets out of here alive, some edure death long before their body stops functioning... might not be so bad to go while alive.

 

[riptides]

True story, believe it or not:

One of the reasons why we have safety rules, safety regulations, safety stickers and other laws.

Ms Smiley face, applied for a job as a delivery person. ...

I read the story and agree with the out come.

Think about operating something other than a car or truck.

 

[dogtired]

It makes me sad to see so many scream for government mandated safety devices.

Just sad what America has become of late..
just sad.

 

[Soundguy]

For those that need to be told to not pick up a push lawnmower by its deck sides to use it to trim the hedges.. well.. all I got to say is that the deserve to be missing fingers... It's hard to legislate stupidity..

soundguy

Unused safety equipment has added millions, probably billions of dollars to the cost of the products we buy... on the other hand, needing to use one of these features is priceless to the person who's life was spared or injuries midigated by them. I leave it to the readers of this thread to decide for themselves if its a fair trade off. One good thing about tractor ROPS, it makes a handy place to hand a sunshade.

I'll add one more thought, one thing that might be worse than operating a tractor without a ROPS, would be running one with one without a seatbelt.... I won't ask who has done that either.

Oh. one more: everbody dies. No one gets out of here alive, some edure death long before their body stops functioning... might not be so bad to go while alive.

 

[Red55]

The ole absence of government regulations. Any one got a couple of extra "Trillion" laying around it looks like the absence of government regulations is going to cost someones great, great, great children a lot of money when the dust settle from the (No Regulation or Rules Wall Street Mess) Some times we need rules and requlations to protect us as individuals and tax payers from another expense.

Sure it's lack of regulations? Or a special interest group shoving their idea of "America" down the throats of Banking?
THE REAL SCANDAL - New York Post

It get's better on CNBC last night Sen Dodd was proposing that one of these groups get 20% of the "future" profit from the $700billon bailout Life does come full circle. Next biggest question is who is going to BAILOUT the US government when the well runs dry? -Ed

 

[unreconstructed]

I'll bet the folks here that are spouting off about personal freedoms would be the first to file a lawsuit if their child was injured by a toy that malfunctioned and put the kid's eye out!

I would like to thank the fella in 1776 who "spouted off" about personal freedoms. Have really enjoyed them myself.