One of the stories dominating the news in Calgary lately has been the high streamflow of the Bow and Elbow Rivers. It's become an almost daily happening, talking about warnings and advisories by all sorts of government departments. And almost as often, we're talking about rescues. As reporters, it almost feels like we're bashing our heads against a brick wall.
Granted, some say the majority of people listen to the advice. But what is it about that small minority? Are they willingly going against the grain or are they simply not informed? The question that's being raised now: is it time to fine/bill those who go into the water for a joyride and later need to be rescued?
I'm not going to wade into that discussion too much. The fact is that rescue teams are trained to do exactly that: rescue. They're generally working when they're called out to help you, so they're being paid anyways. So I'm not sure if you can put a dollar figure next to that. On the flipside, you're putting those rescuers in harm's way. So maybe a lofty fine is needed on the off-chance you need some help. But then how much does that really affect the way some people approach what they're going to do? One could argue fines for speeding (aka photo radar) and distracted driving haven't fixed the problem at all. It all boils down to personal choice.
But a friend on Twitter reminded me of a similar issue that popped up a while back. It was the middle of winter and every single weather service and media outlet was telling people to stay off the roads. The AMA's road conditions website had everything in "red" in Southern Alberta, basically meaning don't even bother trying to head out on a major highway.
If memory serves me right, a gentleman decided to go against the warnings. He headed out with his dog for a drive between Medicine Hat and Calgary. His first sign that he should turn around should have been the fact that he was going about 50km/h on the Trans-Canada Highway. But he plodded on, eventually hitting the ditch. The trouble: he was wearing shorts in -30 temperatures with an ugly windchill factor to boot and he had no supplies (aka blankets or pants). He called RCMP and tow trucks trying to get help, but they were obviously inundated with other calls. One officer even said the tow trucks didn't want to go on the highway for a while because they'd drive a few feet, get out of the vehicle, walk for a bit to make sure they weren't missing anything, go back to their vehicles and drive a little further. In other words, visibility was about as close to zero as you can get.
The man finally did get some help from a passing motorist. He claims he nearly froze to death and his dog suffered some pretty serious frostbite. He was later quoted as saying the RCMP nearly killed him and that there wasn't any advance warning of the storm. Ahhh. The old blame game that this blog has spoken of on occasion.
There are some interesting parallels between the issue around water safety and the warnings/advisories regarding winter driving. We, reporters, can warn you until our faces turn red. We're not doing it to be party-poopers. We're not doing it just to hear the sound of our own voices. We do it because someone obviously feels lives can be put in danger if the warnings aren't aired. And the last thing we want to do is go out to where the story is about your death.
No comments:
Post a Comment