If you’re thinking of making a raft with kiddie pools, two college students (plus this lawyer) have thoughts on reckless adventuring. I’m Amy E. Feldman.
Two college kids bolted two kiddie pools to the underside of a piece of plywood, duct taped 20 plastic Home Depot buckets to the top, and set off with a paddle for a rafting trip last month. The tide took them so far off the coast they needed to be rescued by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Adventurous idiocy is not limited to college kids, though; states that regularly deal with what authorities call “reckless adventuring” have passed laws to allow the state to bill a person for the cost of his rescue if the person’s own conduct was reckless or negligent. Whether a kiddie pool rafting trip is reckless or negligent may depend on your age and blood alcohol content, although shockingly, authorities say alcohol was not a factor here. In some states you can buy rescue insurance to cover the nonmedical costs of a rescue like helicopter flights. Or – and hear me out – maybe instead of putting yourself in danger, stay put and do your homework.
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