Back To Point Beach
Published June 10, 2010 | 
Say you don’t need no diamond ring and I’ll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of thing that money just can’t buy
I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love
-beatles
I don’t know about you, but I need a vacation. Thankfully tomorrow morning we’ll be heading back up to Point Beach State Forest on the coast of Lake Michigan for a few days R & R. Sounds like the weather may be mixed, but hey, if we get some waves out of it I’ll be happy.
The Point Beach event called, “Kayak Week” is hosted by a group of paddlers from the Two Rivers, WI area. It was this annual gathering of area kayakers that actually brought me into Wisconsin paddling “fold”. Back then there was an amazing diversity of paddlers who showed up for a variety of local paddling events. There was always something going on, and someone to paddle with or learn from. Of course that was back before the days of liability paranoia that put a choke hold on social kayaking. I hear all the time how these sort of free-wheeling gatherings have fallen victim to the hemorrhoidal area of lawsuit fears, insurance & sanctioning debates that often burn more energy in a group than actual paddling.
Today a bunch of paddlers can’t simply get a big campsite and invite anyone to join them for a paddle. Well, they can of course, but not without someone shouting to the hilltops about liability. In a sense it’s become rather sick. What it has done more than anything is simply cause a bunch of guesswork, hoop jumping and verbal gymnastics as paddlers try to address un-definable “what ifs”. I mean, anything CAN happen. How can you prepare for ANYTHING? You can’t. This leads to groups falling prey to fear mongers and hobby lawyers who are bloated with examples of possible doom. Arguments about what is safe or acceptable has pitted local paddler against local paddler and friend against friend. In fact I believe the word “liability” alone has done more to hold back the growth of kayaking than anything else. It’s certainly sucked the life out friendly gatherings that are intended to be relaxed and enjoyable rather than official or “sanctioned”.
What’s more, there’s no proof that getting waivers signed will actually protect you or your club as it is. They may. It’s nice to tell a judge that you did everything in your power to get the person who’s suing you to recognize the risks and take personal responsibility. A signed bit of paper makes it a bit more obvious. Still, anyone familiar with the legal system will tell you that once you get down in the mud, there is no guarantee that a signed form will protect you. I’ve asked over and over for examples of the ACA’s legal eagles coming to the defense of clubs and individuals. It seems real examples are hard to come by.
Thing is, I’m not against reasonable liability protection. I am against what fear of liability is doing to paddling and society in general. I’m not sure when we allowed fear to move from self-protection to flat out prohibition in our minds. When fear of liability is allowed to break up natural social gatherings, something in our society as a whole is very, very broken. Not everything we do in life should need to be sanctioned or licensed or approved by our “betters”. It’s bloody obvious that sometimes it should be A-OK to simply hang out.
Maybe I’m wrong. I often am, but it seems to me that fear of liability is knocking the piss out of social paddling. What have we become when finding neighbors to paddle with entails filling out a form and sending ten bucks to the ACA for the privilege?
Be that as it may… I am OUTTA here!
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Posted in Commentary & Rants, Events & Symposia, Outdoor Recreation, Paddling | 
aca, lake michigan, liability, point beach6 Responses to Back To Point Beach
I hope it’s crystal clear that the ACA are the good guys (and gals) in this situation: Providing relatively cheap and easy to obtain insurance for on and off-water events for paddling clubs and paddling instructors and thereby a tremendous benefit to those who want to provide at least some protection against catastrophic liability claims. I agree that the currently litigious society in which we recreate is an outright shame. It is very true that ACA insured events have a VERY good record of not having many claims against the insurance underwriters. To some degree, I think we can credit that to a participating population (including paddling clubs) that are already well aware of risks and safety precautions to avoid those risks (e.g. WEAR YOUR PFD!). We should pat ourselves on the back for that record. Unfortunately, there is also a portion of the millions of people who paddle in the USA every year who do not have this level of sophistication in paddlesports safety and who probably inordinately contribute to injury and fatality statistics. ACA’s most recent SEI Focus newsletter contains a litany of accident reports that contain something like the sentence: “The victims were not wearing life jackets”. That too is a shame when the outcome of the accident may have been different.
I suggest we continue to thank and support an organization like ACA for providing both the tools to help protect ourselves from catastrophic liability, but also do so much to help educate the paddling public about the risks of paddlesports and teach ways to more safely enjoy them. Being a part of that organization makes us all part of the solution.
Larry Ausley- ACA Secretary and Board of Directors
Right. The ACA or BCU for that matter do not “cause” the problem. However, I’m still asking what is the actual risk of facing “catastrophic liability” for the average paddler (I.e. i don’t carry meteor insurance because the odds don’t justify the cost) and is the fear of such taking away our ability paddle freely. Does it benefit some to promote fear over self-responsibility?
My question is not to point fingers, but to ask if the “game” of liability and insurance has become so accepted that we stopped asking if there is no other option. For instance a law to protect clubs from liability or some sort of assumption of personal responsibility law that blocks the right to sue under certain circumstances.. who knows.. but maybe there are better options that protect people constant threat of lawsuits.
I really don’t know what the actual risk may be. It’s certainly lower than than the risk of an auto accident on the way to paddling. It’s probably higher than cancer-risks deemed ‘acceptable’ for carcinogen exposure (e.g 1 in a million). I do think there are many things we can do to affect the actual risk, but little (except diligence, insurance, waivers and ‘warn-and-inform’) is there to protect us from claims. I don’t think it’s so much the risk that’s the weighted factor in most folks’ decision making as the potential outcome of facing a million+ dollar liability claim should something happen. I’ve seen several injuries on paddling trips, all of which were handled well by those involved and have not yet been involved in any litigation (knock wood), but one can see how it could happen after reading the horror stories in other outdoor sports that could lead one to wonder. In the paddling clubs to which I belong, I generally see it as a positive that classes and many events are insured, for the good of the community in which we participate. I don’t mind that community protecting itself to that degree.
[...snip...]
I really don’t know what the actual risk may be.
[...snip...]
Quantifying risk for non-linear systems is a fairly hard problem to be sure. However, it remains the case that I too have never been able to find a satisfying answer to the question of what is the ratio of instances of litigation versus number of events undertaken.
Assuming that it’s true this is a known quantity (otherwise what insurer would be able to offer indemnification of any sort?) it does seem then to beg the question why hasn’t the ACA (my insuring agent) been willing to divulge that information? In my mind at least this information is a critical component to entering into a rational(!) discussion about this particular aspect of paddle sports risk in the US.
Put another way, I have been made well aware of the specific risks of not wearing a life jacket (<= new and approved nomenclature!), probability of hypothermia for a given set of environmental factors, sea state for a given set of factors and so forth. That allows me to perform a somewhat decent risk assessment with respect to my physical environment versus (perceived) skill set requirements, etc. However I'm unable to perform any sort of rational risk assessment as to my likelihood of being sued or causing a claim against my club because of an action or lack of action on my part.
So, demonstrating that I am in fact substantially less smart here than Derrick, our kind host and most excellent pointer-outer, I will point fingers. I have asked for an answer in this regard. I have received exactly zero specific response. I am nearly certain this information is easily available. I am left to conclude that the ACA has an unstated (but intuitively obvious) reason for not providing this not just useful but, I argue, necessary information. Further, I believe that it is the case that the ratio of instances of claims of any sort versus events undertaken closely approximates 0. That is, there are essentially no claims made at all and this entire (often rancorous and seemingly endless) discussion concerning "what if I get sued?" has, statistically speaking, the same value as debating the likelihood of having ones left arm bitten off by a 16 foot white shark on the coast of California in July (a probability that I can actually estimate by the way).
So there. I said it. I would be ecstatic if someone would prove me incorrect.
I know of what you speak. I envy the NEWisconsin group for the wonderful work they do and the organization they have. Here, in Milwaukee, the original efforts to formally be a group were quashed by those worrying about liability (one being a lawyer). Now, when the group goes out, we certified instructors do wonder what our responsibility is legally…we know ethically where we stand.
Derrick, I just started kayaking a couple of months ago, and got the “fever”, so now I’m in the process of getting me a Scorpio LV that should last me a while…
I fully understand what you are talking about. I’ve been in this beautiful country (USA) for 22 years, and love it, but I also believe that even though these rules & regulations are here to protect us, many times they do get in the way, taking away the beauty of the “feeling of freedom & adventure” and sometimes putting an obstacle that some might not want to cross…
I’m originally from Peru, and remember well the awesome feeling that I had when doing Cross-Country with my Dad, on our Motocross bikes. Crossing the valleys, mountains, deserts & beaches, without paperwork or legal limitations, was simply amazing… and they’ll always be part of my lifetime memories.
We knew the risks, and we were prepared for them, as much as we humanly could… but we did not let them get in the way of enjoying “being alive”…
Thanks for a great website… I really enjoy reading all your posts & articles.
Ivan