Scameras on the Piste.....
Discussion
Whatever next?
http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style...
Speed demons will meet their match on the piste
Bojan Pancevski in Vienna
Skiers and snowboarders who love the unrestricted thrill of hurtling down
alpine pistes on a sunny winter's day are about to be stopped in their
tracks.
Switzerland is introducing speed cameras on the slopes to try to reduce the
increasing number of accidents. The first such nationwide controls will
treat skiers like cars on the motorway. Speeders will be caught with
hand-held radar devices carried by hidden personnel.
Persistent offenders could be fined or have ski passes confiscated.
The scheme is being introduced after figures revealed a drastic increase in
serious ski-related accidents in Switzerland. The booming winter tourism
trade has led to overcrowding at the most popular resorts and a sharp rise
in accidents. Impeccable pistes and new skiing equipment also encourages
skiers and snowboarders of all levels to go ever faster.
Last year there were more than 70,000 accidents on Swiss ski slopes, many
resulting in serious injuries and deaths. Swiss helicopter rescue teams were
called out for serious accidents 300 times in December alone, and the total
cost of rescue operations is expected to exceed £100 million.The
state-controlled Swiss Accident Insurance (Suva), the country's biggest
provider of compulsory cover, has responded by introducing the speed
controls as part of a safety campaign.
Angela Zobrist, a spokeswoman, said: "This is not another fun-spoiling
campaign of the health and safety brigade and we don¹t intend to raise a
warning finger to all snow sport lovers. It is a genuine safety concern. You
do not realise how fast you go, which can prove to be really dangerous if
you impact with another skier or have any other incident."
The monitoring will start today in the resort of Andermatt, and will be
extended to the rest of the country, including resorts such as St Moritz,
Zermatt and Davos. Similar experiments have been conducted on a small scale
but this is the first campaign to include all the top resorts in
Switzerland.
Studies using crash test dummies on skis, similar to those conducted with
cars, have suggested that going faster than 30km/h (19mph) is not safe, and
that going faster than 50km/h is potentially fatal.
Authorities are exploring the legal options of punishing speeding skiers,
although it is complicated because Switzerland's cantons have different
laws. Punishments are likely to vary from resort to resort.
Speeders will not be fined initially, but will be singled out and approached
by Suva personnel and employees of the individual resorts, They will tell
offenders to moderate their speed and explain the danger speeding poses to
themselves and others on the slopes.
Josef Dahinden, a spokesman for the Andermatt resort, said: "We have
collisions resulting in injuries on the pistes almost every day and the
purpose of this campaign is to get people to return to normal speed and go
below 30km/h."
The move has been generally welcomed by skiers. Katy Laffan, 27, an
experienced skier from London, said: "To be honest, I do not know how fast I
usually go. It could be a good idea to monitor the speed on the piste, but I
would say that it's not the fast skiers who cause accidents but the ones who
are out of control, such as beginners on steep slopes or drunk people."
http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style...
Speed demons will meet their match on the piste
Bojan Pancevski in Vienna
Skiers and snowboarders who love the unrestricted thrill of hurtling down
alpine pistes on a sunny winter's day are about to be stopped in their
tracks.
Switzerland is introducing speed cameras on the slopes to try to reduce the
increasing number of accidents. The first such nationwide controls will
treat skiers like cars on the motorway. Speeders will be caught with
hand-held radar devices carried by hidden personnel.
Persistent offenders could be fined or have ski passes confiscated.
The scheme is being introduced after figures revealed a drastic increase in
serious ski-related accidents in Switzerland. The booming winter tourism
trade has led to overcrowding at the most popular resorts and a sharp rise
in accidents. Impeccable pistes and new skiing equipment also encourages
skiers and snowboarders of all levels to go ever faster.
Last year there were more than 70,000 accidents on Swiss ski slopes, many
resulting in serious injuries and deaths. Swiss helicopter rescue teams were
called out for serious accidents 300 times in December alone, and the total
cost of rescue operations is expected to exceed £100 million.The
state-controlled Swiss Accident Insurance (Suva), the country's biggest
provider of compulsory cover, has responded by introducing the speed
controls as part of a safety campaign.
Angela Zobrist, a spokeswoman, said: "This is not another fun-spoiling
campaign of the health and safety brigade and we don¹t intend to raise a
warning finger to all snow sport lovers. It is a genuine safety concern. You
do not realise how fast you go, which can prove to be really dangerous if
you impact with another skier or have any other incident."
The monitoring will start today in the resort of Andermatt, and will be
extended to the rest of the country, including resorts such as St Moritz,
Zermatt and Davos. Similar experiments have been conducted on a small scale
but this is the first campaign to include all the top resorts in
Switzerland.
Studies using crash test dummies on skis, similar to those conducted with
cars, have suggested that going faster than 30km/h (19mph) is not safe, and
that going faster than 50km/h is potentially fatal.
Authorities are exploring the legal options of punishing speeding skiers,
although it is complicated because Switzerland's cantons have different
laws. Punishments are likely to vary from resort to resort.
Speeders will not be fined initially, but will be singled out and approached
by Suva personnel and employees of the individual resorts, They will tell
offenders to moderate their speed and explain the danger speeding poses to
themselves and others on the slopes.
Josef Dahinden, a spokesman for the Andermatt resort, said: "We have
collisions resulting in injuries on the pistes almost every day and the
purpose of this campaign is to get people to return to normal speed and go
below 30km/h."
The move has been generally welcomed by skiers. Katy Laffan, 27, an
experienced skier from London, said: "To be honest, I do not know how fast I
usually go. It could be a good idea to monitor the speed on the piste, but I
would say that it's not the fast skiers who cause accidents but the ones who
are out of control, such as beginners on steep slopes or drunk people."
Edited by catso on Saturday 5th January 16:38
Angela Zobrist said:
This is not another fun-spoiling campaign of the health and safety brigade and we don¹t intend to raise a warning finger to all snow sport lovers. It is a genuine safety concern.
This is the same doublespeak as used to justify road cameras. "Not fun-spoiling", "not H&S brigade", but the result is fun-spoiling anyway on the basis of improving H&S. Just what goes through these people's heads that allows them to both believe and disbelieve something at the same time?Edited by Peter Ward on Saturday 5th January 22:35
Dogwatch said:
So it's off to North America then - if they'll let you in.
Land of the free 'n all that.
Not so fast sonny Jim.Land of the free 'n all that.
15 years ago, they had ski patrol with breathalisers in Steamboat Springs, ready to confiscate your $200 ski pass.
Simple avoidance method is.........ski off piste.
So that'll be like a track day then?
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