My dive buddies and i have just returned from a relaxing dive trip without incident. We planned our dive and dove our plan. After hundreds of dives together and instructor certifications we still periodically asked if the others were ok and how much air we had. We agree that diving as a task is not difficult. We also agree we had excellent instruction from instructors who answered to an agency with rigorous standards. So when divers on our boat under direct instruction came up bent. The question arose who is to blame? When Gilboa quarry has not changed its profile but incidents and accidents are at all time high, who is to blame. The divers, instructors and agencies all have a stake in each sucessful dive, but when something goes wrong does the blame go up the chain? We have argued alot about this what do you think?
Whose fault is it when an accident happens?
- Thread starter gr8lakesdiver
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I generally think it is the individual diver's responsibility to ensure their own safety.
If someone gets into a car accident, do they blame their driving instructor?
If someone gets into a car accident, do they blame their driving instructor?
RonFrank
Contributor
I am sick of people wanting to blame just about anyone BUT themselves when things go wrong.
There are some cases where someone else is to blame. For example, If you cross a street on a WALK, or Green light, and a Bus runs a red and you become road kill.
In diving there are a few things were you MAY be able to blame someone else. Faulty rental equipment MIGHT be one such time. Another would be getting left behind in the open ocean by a boat crew that does not do proper head counts.
Outside of a very few limited scenarios, IMO it is the diver who is ultimately responsible for their diving, and anything that may go wrong.
There are some cases where someone else is to blame. For example, If you cross a street on a WALK, or Green light, and a Bus runs a red and you become road kill.
In diving there are a few things were you MAY be able to blame someone else. Faulty rental equipment MIGHT be one such time. Another would be getting left behind in the open ocean by a boat crew that does not do proper head counts.
Outside of a very few limited scenarios, IMO it is the diver who is ultimately responsible for their diving, and anything that may go wrong.
emcbride81
Contributor
do it easy:
Enough said...
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yea, I am having a hard time thinking of a situation where I would blame another diver unless they physically tried to overpower me underwater.
I might in some case blame a captain if he fell asleep and lost us. Putting divers in the water when you are almost out of fuel or know your prop is barely on...even that, I pretty much know who does this stuff and if I go with them knowing this, it's still my choice.
I might in some case blame a captain if he fell asleep and lost us. Putting divers in the water when you are almost out of fuel or know your prop is barely on...even that, I pretty much know who does this stuff and if I go with them knowing this, it's still my choice.
I agree there is not really enough information in your post to answer your question.
But here are a few thoughts...
Being bent is not necessarily an 'accident' in the conventional sense. By that I mean, it may just be an unfortunate occurance. In fact, I believe the cause of most cases of DCI are without a specific, attributable cause. So in any real sense, that is not a true accident.
But your question does raise a legitimate point, in my opinion. In aviation there is a saying that a crash (accident) is the result of a string of unbroken errors. That string of errors may have begun days, weeks or months ago. While pilot error may be the most recent event in that string, there are almost always others.
It is, of course, possible that a diver makes a mistake leading to an incident or accident. It's also possible that some unknown manufacturing glitch causes a previously unkown gear problem that causes the accident.
As divers, it is our responsiblity to ensure we are as prepared as possible and that we legitimately check, double and triple check gear and plan. That is especially true of advanced or technical dives. I also believe it is our responsiblity to go beyond our rudimentary training to learn as much as we can because even the best instructors can make mistakes.
But I also believe that it is very difficult to paint a question as broad as "accidents" with a single brush.
Jeff
But here are a few thoughts...
Being bent is not necessarily an 'accident' in the conventional sense. By that I mean, it may just be an unfortunate occurance. In fact, I believe the cause of most cases of DCI are without a specific, attributable cause. So in any real sense, that is not a true accident.
But your question does raise a legitimate point, in my opinion. In aviation there is a saying that a crash (accident) is the result of a string of unbroken errors. That string of errors may have begun days, weeks or months ago. While pilot error may be the most recent event in that string, there are almost always others.
It is, of course, possible that a diver makes a mistake leading to an incident or accident. It's also possible that some unknown manufacturing glitch causes a previously unkown gear problem that causes the accident.
As divers, it is our responsiblity to ensure we are as prepared as possible and that we legitimately check, double and triple check gear and plan. That is especially true of advanced or technical dives. I also believe it is our responsiblity to go beyond our rudimentary training to learn as much as we can because even the best instructors can make mistakes.
But I also believe that it is very difficult to paint a question as broad as "accidents" with a single brush.
Jeff
daniel f aleman
Contributor
Blame and fault are two different things, blame implies failure, not necessarily culpability as fault does.
An instructor can be blamed (by others) for turning out a bad diver, but he may not be at fault for a specific accident made by said bad diver.
BUT, when a diver has an "accident" under direct supervision of an instructor - well, the instructor will be blamed, and most likely held at fault.
An instructor can be blamed (by others) for turning out a bad diver, but he may not be at fault for a specific accident made by said bad diver.
BUT, when a diver has an "accident" under direct supervision of an instructor - well, the instructor will be blamed, and most likely held at fault.
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