RE Litiginous tendencies and their effects on "ordinary" people. As many of may know, lots of the more accessible beaches in Oz are patrolled by volunteer life-savers and there is system of marker flags to indicate areas which may be dangerous because of tidal rips etc. Now the courts have just awarded massive damages to a man who was injured at one of Sydney's most famous and popular beaches because he was injured while swimming in an area within the marker flags.

The man's successful claim seems to have been based on the local Council being responsible for his accident because they had taken some care to ensure that bathers were protected, by supporting the flags and life-savers system etc, but were deficient in his case.

As a result, the council were reported to be considering closing all the beaches in their area which are now open to the public, and posting notices to the effect that no safety precautions or services would be provided... That'll do wonders for the tourism which is an essential part of the local economy down there..... And a lot of other councils could follow their example because of the current massive increases to public liability insurance premiums.

I know this is only one example, and there are heaps like it - including the MacDonalds coffee etc etc etc - but what used to happen in such cases before we all got sue-happy? Surely we're abandoning common sense, or is it just that we've all got so greedy because the corporate sphere is only interested in making a dollar and de'il tak' the hindmost. As part of this whole corporate sphere, lawyers are able to make their profit by encouraging people to take on cases for massive amounts which not long ago would have received more reasonable awards.

Now I'm sorry for anybody who gets hurt through no fault of their own, but where do we draw the line? The Queensland government is now talking about legislating to prevent lawyers from advertising that they take on no-win-no-pay cases. It could be a first step....

Comments...

Oh, and back on Warnings and Instructions etc... I've just read the label on an aerosol insecticide and there's no way I'm going to buy a fish tank just so I can take it out of the room before I use the spray.... and the same goes for the birdcage!