Some Good News When It Comes To Lawsuits Against Ski Mountains -- Ski Rex Says...
I know that I have been talking about this a bunch lately, but I saw the following article and had to bring attention to it. Please, take a moment to read through it. It isn't long.
Utah Senate Approves Bill Clarifying Protections For Ski Resorts
In 1979, the Utah Legislature passed the Inherent Risk to Skiing Act. Republican Sen. Dan Hemmert wants to update that decades-old law with this year's Senate Bill 228. Hemmert says anyone who skis assumes a risk. "You are putting on pieces of wood and metal that have a plastic base," Hemmert said.
Just from the headline, you can get the gist of the article. Just to summarize, Utah lawmakers are working to update legislation that will help ski mountains avoid being sued when they really shouldn't be.
Now, some would argue that saying this is a good thing is just a way to protect that capitalist machine that these ski corporations drive to make sure their bottom lines are not affected and to keep them from taking the responsibility they should. That would be wrong, however,
Corporate mountains are not the only mountains that see these lawsuits that are really just ways for people to attempt to get a quick payout. Smaller mountains see them, too, and for a smaller mountain, it could hurt so much more.
Smaller mountains, as we know, don't make the money that corporate mountains do. One of these lawsuits claiming that the person didn't know they could get hurt or trying to blame their injury on some sort of dreamed up negligence can end a smaller, independent mountain. Those mountains can't throw millions of dollars at a payout and survive.
Plus, even if it is a corporate mountain, it doesn't make it right to sue that corporation just to get that payout. It makes no difference what a person thinks of the company that operates the mountain. If a lawsuit is garbage, then it's garbage.
Anyway, I'll keep this one short, since I have recently made it known that I support the mountains on this one and I think they do need help with being protected from those just seeking a payday. I also really just wanted to make sure those who agreed with me got a chance to see what's going on in Utah.
Photo Credit: Crystalmountainskier at en.wikipedia / CC BY-SA
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