Wego Kite Tube of Death Accident

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by davekridandtori

WE LIVE IN A COUNTRY THAT LITAGATION PROVIDES NEGATIVE RESULTS FOR COMPANIES THAT MANUFACTUR ITEMS THAT HURT PEOPLE.

I'm sure we should all be grateful tha't you're doing your best to protect us from these evil devices that hurt people. Heaven forfend that people should be responsible for their own actions as long as there's somebody else around to sue who still has money left.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

I'm sure we should all be grateful tha't you're doing your best to protect us from these evil devices that hurt people. Heaven forfend that people should be responsible for their own actions as long as there's somebody else around to sue who still has money left.

If a device, when used as intended, results in the death or severe disability of a significant percentage of its users, we have every right to shut that company down.

This isn't like a ladder that's being set up improperly. This isn't like someone slipping while mowing wet grass on a hill, and chopping their foot off. Users of this device are using it exactly as intended, and they are being killed. Go to the website. The only indication that it may have some danger is the warning on the kite itself that you shouldn't go higher than you are willing to fall. They make it sound like jumping off a high diving board. There is no mention that people have died using this product as intended because they slam into the concrete-hard water at high speed.

There's a place for personal responsibility. There's also a place for banning unreasonably dangerous products.

[jinx]

Sorry about your BIL dave, I hope he recovers quickly, and thanks for the warning.

A couple of thoughts popped into my head after reading your post, and Wolf's link to another discussion of this kite thing.
- Was this your BIL's first ride?
- Did he actually see 2 other people get hurt on it before he decided to give it a try? Coughing up blood etc???
- 30-35mph and 15ft in the air? Holy shit. And again, was this his first try? What about learning how to do it first? At slow speeds etc...? 35mph could fuck someone up on any kind of tube.

[Elspode]

I would agree with Glatt that, if all you did was read the web page (which appears to be a distributor's site, and not the manufacturer, BTW), it would indeed seem as though there's no danger at all in using the product.

I still think that any sane person would look at it, consider the speeds and altitudes involved, and immediately decide to rent a pontoon boat instead.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by glatt

. The only indication that it may have some danger is the warning on the kite itself that you shouldn't go higher than you are willing to fall. They make it sound like jumping off a high diving board. There is no mention that people have died using this product as intended because they slam into the concrete-hard water at high speed.

There's a place for personal responsibility. There's also a place for banning unreasonably dangerous products.

It is indeed quite a bit like jumping off a high-diving board: if you do it wrong you can kill yourself. Noticed how many public pools don't have diving boards anymore? That's exactly why; some Darwin award-winner's survivors decided to take their grief out on the pool owner.

I'm sick and tired of paying a stupidity tax every time I do something aviation-related because somebody wanted to be indemnified for their own (or a relative's) lack of sense. If you can't figure out that flying in a kite is dangerous if done wrong, or under conditions that are too windy, then whose fault is that?

Obviously if you crash an aircraft (yes, a kite is an aircraft) into water at high speed, you are clearly not "using it as intended".