I am sure he would pay that. However people hear of searches
costing tens of thousands of dollars, and that is what they
worry about, enough that it might delay their calling for
help too long. Pride is enough of an issue in delayed calling.

Most searchers are volunteers. I think it goes against the
grain to charge someone when the majority of people helping are not looking for renumeration.


Articles about this topic.

Climbers
http://alpineinstitute.blogspot.com/2009/01/search-and-rescue-costs.html

Boaters
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Article_view_articleid_973_display_full_

Search Team thoughts and policies
http://www.larimercountysar.org/faq.htm
"We believe that charging the people we help will only delay the call that requests our service, and time is always critical when people are lost and injured. "

People worry about numbers they can relate to.
A thousand, a hundred thousand or maybe even a million is a number they might be able to relate to, so they focus on it.
Billions and Trillions are just to big to understand.
It is the same thing with infrastructure. They get upset about a one million dollar bridge repair but fail to understand what not having a bridge there would cost them.

N.H. makes a lot of money from their outdoors recreation industry.
Let's be cheap about rescues.
Yup, lets make the back country only available to people with rescue insurance.

"Yup, lets make it back country only available to people with rescue insurance."

The problem is that many of the bozos don't learn. How many have you heard about that have been rescued more than once? Sometimes, the VERY NEXT DAY! Just what is it you think the world owes these guys?

You only speak of the cost to the so-called victim... almost like you're one of those who pull these bonehead stunts and expect to get pulled out of it for free. Volunteer or professional, what happens if a rescuer gets badly injured or killed trying to rescue some idiot? How much do you think it costs to care for a quadraplegic for the rest of his life? How about a funeral? How about supporting his little kids? Are the so-called victims going to ante-up then? No, they're not. They will just keep doing what they're doing, because they don't give a tinker's dam about anything but themselves.

There's just a lot of people who have short-range vision and long-range expectations... but only for themselves.

How about signs on the trails: "Be Stupid and Die". (Esp appropriate for NH.)

Sue

So what's the solution? Calling people stupid clearly isn't one.

One can either come down on the side of more legislation or accept that with the notion of personal freedom comes some stupidity and shared responsibility that the community has to bear.

What other choices are there?

JohnE

Maybe New Hampshire should apply for TARP funds.

I'm far less bothered by bailing out fools in the woods than the fools on Wall Street.

No Susan, you are missing the point.
There is a huge industry called tourism.

It relies on selling outdoor gear, locations, and opportunities for Bozos to go and risk their lives.

It employs a lot of people.
From tour operators to outdoor equipment sellers. It generates a lot of money for the State.

Like all industries it wants to externalize the cost of doing business.

(Buy a Jeep, but if you drive it off the pavement like it was sold to you for and you get it stuck you are suddenly a reckless or negligent individual.)

Rewriting the law like they did only helps to externalize the cost.

Another big industry is insurance.

Rewriting the law made it easier to create an insurance market.
It also (ironically) gives the future insurance providers an out from paying claims.

Whenever any of the business or government mouthpieces start spouting off about rugged individualism or personal responsibility you had better get a good grip on your wallet, because they are about to grab at it big time.

When industries and governments tell you something is for your good, or that it is the other guys fault, you should be very suspicious of the motives.
---
Paying for rescuing a few retards a year is far cheaper than what you are being pushed into.
In fact it should be covered out of business taxes if they wanted to be fair about it.

Rescue operations likely cost less than 1% of what advertising and selling the wonderful winter wonderland adventures to the morons does.
If you just let people die in the bush, or charge them big money when they screw up, you lose your winter tourist business.

ok. so if you get your jeep stuck - for whatever reason - the tow truck comes and hauls you out for free, right?

no. you gotta pay.

why should i pay to haul your jeep out of trouble?

Reimbursing the cost of a wilderness rescue would bankrupt most people.

The fear of never being found ought to be punishment enough for most.

I've never heard of the same person needing to be rescued more than once. Maybe it's happened but I've never heard of it.

Volunteer or professional, what happens if a rescuer gets badly injured or killed trying to rescue some idiot?

That's not what we're discussing here.

The issue is not charging the victim for the medical expenses of an injured searcher (for which, in any case, the searcher should be insured), but charging for the cost of the search. So enough with the emotional pleas, the poor little children, etc.

Neither are we talking about pulling jeeps out for free; we're talking about lifesaving rescue.

The points re rescue insurance and delayed calls for help are valid. There is a downside to making people pay for rescue.

Most people do agree that there's nothing wrong with charging people who are reckless, but who defines "reckless?" Some people think that whitewater canoeing is ipso facto reckless.

And when you lower the bar to "negligence," well, I can find you negligent every single time something goes wrong, if I want to. I'm not sure that's a good path to turn down.

You people are all so stuck on stuff instead of life it is amazing. The Jeep is just stuff.
You could leave the Jeep to rot for all I care.
I still would not just leave somebody to die simply because they were foolish enough to get a Jeep stuck.

You can not cure stupid, and so long as companies are selling 4x4s and the idea they are invincible in the winter wonderland you will have fools buying into it foolheartedly and going out getting their jeeps stuck.

So why should I subsidize the public cost of accidents which corporations like the makers of Jeep are creating for private profit?

If I follow your argument why not just quit doing search and rescue or any form of disaster relief at all.
If somebody is stupid enough to get lost, or to live in a hurricane, earthquake, fire or whatever zone they get what they deserve. (right?)

I mean If you are dumb enough to buy property in any of the Gulf States or the Mudwest you are no different than the Jeep driver and deserve to get washed away in the next hurricane or flood. (right?)