Do you solo to avoid legal issues?

[Skull]

X-IIVX

In particular I am a certified anti-social type(at least from NAUI) ...in fact I just got my AST(Anti-Social Type) -Diver card last month. Course the instructor was reluctant to be near me so he just mailed it to me.

I suspect most solo divers are like me ... deep down inside they are anti-social types who basically like to be left alone to do that which they enjoy. ..yet begrudgingly when forced upon them they will on occasion get on a friends boat or a cattle boat and persevere to endure the crowded masses on a reef. Or wait patiently while yet another diver decides they must have a photo taken of them in the pilot house of a wreck and everyone else must stop all the diving activities while their buddy "gets the shot" ... ha ha ha

Then again I do like hangin out in the Pub administering a little waterboarding to my fellow SBer's regardless of their dive status ie Solo or Buddy Diver!

 

[idocsteve]

That is an entirely needless worry for a non professional diver to harbor IMO. Not to redirect your question but I would be more interested in hearing about any example of a lawsuit initiated due to the failure of a dive buddy to provide proper assistance to another diver in need.

That's the whole point of liability when diving with a buddy. Even if you do try to help the guy out if there's a fatality you could easily be sued and possibly found liable because you didn't do the right thing and were found negligent.

If you're going to get into legal trouble because of what may happen to a buddy, you're going to get into it even if solo diving. Recall, David Swain was essentially solo diving. If a diver dies and there is evidence of foul play, and you have a motive without a good alibi, being solo is no help.

That's a poor example because David Swain murdered his wife by coming up behind her, ripping off her mask and cutting off her gas supply.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I'd say ItsBruce was spot on with his example, because only David knows where he was and what he was doing when his wife died. Yes he was convicted, but if you watched the Dateline special I do not see how anyone can say 100% sure he did those things; there are no witnesses.

 

[idocsteve]

I'd say ItsBruce was spot on with his example, because only David knows where he was and what he was doing when his wife died. Yes he was convicted, but if you watched the Dateline special I do not see how anyone can say 100% sure he did those things; there are no witnesses.

Whether or not Swain was falsely convicted still has little or nothing to do with the debate about whether or not diving Solo reduces your liability risk because:

1- The dive was not planned to be Solo, they entered the water as a buddy team, and only after the fact did David say they were doing their own thing.

2- The investigation was not centered on whether they dove as buddies and she ran into a problem that David was in some way negligent or liable, rather he was convicted of intentionally causing her death.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

If David Swain had planned the dive to be solo, from the get go, then his wife would not have been there, so he would not have been convicted for murder on that dive.

ItsBruce's post was spot on, to allow me to type that.

 

[farsidefan1]

If my wife is not there to be my buddy I buddy up with the DM - in other words I dive solo. Virtually all my diving is done in tropical water and allthough I've got my wreck certification I'm not penetrating any wrecks without a dm I'm hired to accompany me, just me as my wife is not interested in snooping around inside of wrecks - I'm just happy she is ok hanging around me (I've been certified a wreck by my first wife). If Doc is around I'd be happy to dive with him again.

 

[idocsteve]

If David Swain had planned the dive to be solo, from the get go, then his wife would not have been there, so he would not have been convicted for murder on that dive.

Really? You're saying that it's not possible for two people to dive the same site as solo divers rather than buddies?

That's odd, because I see multiple divers going into the water alone all the time off of the dive boats here in the NE Atlantic, they do the entire dive alone, and they come back to the boat alone. And they call themselves solo divers!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Upon reviewing the transcript of the Dateline interview you will find that David's narrative indicates that the plan was to split up and dive solo after a few minutes of buddy diving, and there is no contesting of that plan by the friends on the sail boat, so typing a statement that the dive was not planned to be solo seems to be wrong.

Speaking of being wrong, the reason I shot my keyboard off here was because of a statement that was typed as fact but can not be corroborated. I really dislike that posting style. Considering how far most of us have occasionally strayed from thread topics in other threads, chastising ItsBruce for his contribution that is just a little off course is pretty hypocritical (although perhaps consistent).

 

[NAM001]

WE LIVE in a law suit world. with the economy as it is . if you dont have the skills to get and keep a job to retire from then you need a lawyer. why work when you can let your lawyer get your retirement for you.

i dont buddy unless i know them well or i am forced. i say this because i do not believe any one can be a buddy to the satifsfaction of a lawyer.

 

[diver_doug]

I solo dive because I want to go diving whenever I feel like it and once I'm in the water I want to do/go whatever/wherever I want. Also, the last thing I want to see underwater is one of these things...what are they called?...you know, they walk around on the surface and screw up everything?....OH YEAH--"PEOPLE"!