Is there an instructor crisis?

[berndo]

Liability and law suits seems to be the boogy man in the closet for any of this, and is the reason for so many rules, regulations, and fear...

I pretty much agree with 95% of your posts I read on SB but I don't think it'd be good to have no training agencies or instructors. The example about the guy who didn't know what a SPG was is pretty extreme. I don't doubt it happened but it's really not normal, not in my experience anyway. I'm not a fan of PADI or SSI but I don't think they're as bad as people on SB seem to think they are.

 

[boulderjohn]

But I still can’t get past things like surfing and freediving. They require no certification but can kill or injure people too, and they involve water. Who gets sued when something goes wrong?

Nobody gets sued when things go wrong with surfing and freediving.

When things go wrong with scuba, the dive operation, the owner of the dive site (If appliable), the DM who was on the boat at the time, the captain who did not do a good enough job training the crew for rescue, and the agency that certified anyone involved in the story all get sued.

 

[Wookie]

Hey Captain Frank. Why do we need licences or certifications for operating dive boats or any boats? Driving a boat is way easier than learing to ski, scuba or driving a car. A kid can drive a boat. What's up with that?

Because you need to learn how to keep passengers safe. Obtaining a license to drive a boat has nothing to do with driving the boat, bo one evaluates your boat driving skills, no one comes and watches you drive the boat.

It’s 100 percent a theory and regulation license, because any idiot can drive a boat.

And they do.

 

[runsongas]

no surf shop has ever been sued renting out gear?

@Wookie based on Florida, I would argue they're licensing any idiot to be able to crash a boat

 

[Wookie]

no surf shop has ever been sued renting out gear?

@Wookie based on Florida, I would argue they're licensing any idiot to be able to crash a boat

Well, as I stated, licensing a captain has nothing to do with boat handling.

I’ve had a few spectacular alissions myself.

 

[Jcp2]

no surf shop has ever been sued renting out gear?

@Wookie based on Florida, I would argue they're licensing any idiot to be able to crash a boat

I thinks it’s pretty clear to a layperson what the danger of surfing could be. Scuba has non intuitive dangers in addition to drowning.

 

[Pressurehead]

Driving a boat is way easier than learing to ski, scuba or driving a car. A kid can drive a boat. What's up with that?

Oh dear, you believe that, not here that's for sure.
I will sit back now.

 

[drrich2]

An attorney doesn’t go after anything that doesn’t have a source for a payout; Attorneys are only interested if there something to take.
If uncle Bob teaches little Frankie how to scuba dive and Frankie croaks diving, who sues uncle Bob for his trailer and his pot that he doesn’t have to piss in?

The problem there is that recreational diving seems to cater to a graphic that skews a bit affluent. There are exceptions, but many have something to take. People without a pot to whiz in don't buy a lot of plane tickets to Cozumel and Bonaire, dive gear, etc...

I'm a fan of small government and minimizing liability risk. That said, as others mentioned, with skiing and surfing, the untrained can have a fair idea of the risks. With free diving to a point, though shallow water blackouts isn't common knowledge. With scuba, we've got 'don't hold your breath,' nitrogen narcosis, potential risks of dealing with highly pressurized air and other problems that aren't evident to the average Joe without some education. Therefore, the presumption of risk awareness leading to informed decision-making is a harder sell with scuba diving.

I get it, some people seem to think the world ought to be bubble wrapped and everybody mollycoddled. That said, at least an OW course so they have some idea what they're getting into seems wise.

Even then, how many OW grad.s know about immersion pulmonary edema? IIRC (it's been awhile), the Rescue Diver course covering lung over-expansion injuries more than OW did.

 

[Lorenzoid]

no surf shop has ever been sued renting out gear?

What do they rent--a board? Scuba involves a lot of gear, and you breathe from some of it. Seems like a lot more potential liability than surfboards, skis, bicycles and most other sports gear. Maybe more like renting a parachute.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I pretty much agree with 95% of your posts I read on SB but I don't think it'd be good to have no training agencies or instructors. The example about the guy who didn't know what a SPG was is pretty extreme. I don't doubt it happened but it's really not normal, not in my experience anyway. I'm not a fan of PADI or SSI but I don't think they're as bad as people on SB seem to think they are.

No, they’re not as bad as that and those are extreme examples. I was making a point that nothing is foolproof and these guys were supposedly “trained” and were diving. I had to rescue one of them, well I didn’t HAVE to, but I did anyway.