
Should Michigan Start Fining People for Dangerous Ice Rescues?
With this year's deep Arctic Freeze, it seems like ice rescues have been in the news lately. Stories like a woman in Grand Haven who was walking on Lake Michigan with her dog and fell in a hole, to four people who got stuck on an ice floe on Lake Erie. All of these people ended up being safe thanks to the help of first responders who risked their lives, to save others.
That's why I'm starting to wonder: when first responders are put at risk for wreckless reasons to start, should we start punishing those who put them in harms way to start?
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It sounds heartless to start to charge someone to help save them from peril, but the state of Michigan already has precedent when it comes to charging people for wasting resources. If you visit Sleeping Bear Dunes, you've probably seen the signs that warn you that if you decide to make your way down the dunes, but cannot get yourself out, you will be charged a fee as steep as the dune itself: $3,000.
The state implemented this policy after the expensive and repeated rescues they did to help ill-equipped people who would wander down to the bottom of the dunes, only to be unable to make the climb back up to their cars.
So, why don't we charge people who do the same on the ice? It's much more dangerous for divers to have to get suited up and hope they don't also succumb to the terrible weather, in a completely preventable circumstance.
And, I'm not talking about real accidents- just the ones where someone went out on the lake to peer over the shelf, knowing it was a dumb idea. Or, those who cross past boundaries warning them of dangerous conditions during the winter.
It just feels selfish to put yourself in harms way, risk the lives of heroes, and not expect some sort of consequences for your actions for wasting time and resources, when you could just enjoy that view from the shore, or via a drone.
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Gallery Credit: Wendy Reed
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