Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers

Bojan Pancevski
Times Online
January 5, 2008

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 don’t 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.

Sphere: Related Content

del.icio.us:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers digg:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers spurl:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers wists:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers simpy:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers newsvine:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers blinklist:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers furl:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers reddit:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers fark:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers blogmarks:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers Y!:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers smarking:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers magnolia:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers segnalo:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers gifttagging:Nanny State to Use Speed Cameras on Skiers
  1. Barb Clark on January 5th, 2008

    Yes, I love the article. But, I warn everyone that we can do something about the National Health Intelligence Network (NHIN) before it is TOO late. Don’t be fooled by this high sounding network to link your medical records. It is Super Fatherland. It will mean extortion and black mail using your confidential medical records against you. I know, I have a petition in the U.S. Supreme Court (07-8419) on this exact issue. This is nothing more than an intelligence gathering machine that will collect personal and private health information about you. It is the national wiretap of your medical records. STOP THE NHIN! I mean it. Wake up.

    www.BarbClark.org

  2. Bethesda on January 5th, 2008

    National Health Intelligence Network? That’s extremely, extremely stupid.

    What goes on between a doctor and patient, absent well-defined exceptions (like suicidal ideation, communicable disease, etc.) is highly confidential, and ought not to be revealed abroad.

    The very purpose of medicine is to make the patient well, not to sell, abuse, market, analyze (without consent) or to perform a forensic or criminal examination of patient’s records. Those records are to be maintained locally, by local doctors, and not shared (except for disclosed insurance needs, and the exceptions touched upon, non-comprehensively, above).

    The stupidity is, that once patients become widely aware that their intimate medical information is going straight to the government, they are going to start lying to, or withholding information from, their doctors–and that will lead to bad medicine.

    Medical records, and mean, sexy-sounding, organizations like “intelligence networks” don’t mix, and aren’t compatible. To suggest that they are, even slightly, is to say (and perhaps not incorrectly) that the US government is more assinine than we already thought.

    Good luck with your Supreme court petition.

  3. David Sullivan on January 6th, 2008

    The fact of the matter is that this has been going on for sometime. I was in the medical insurance industry for a brief period of my life as an insurance producer. We were informed that all medical information is collected and stored in the MIB (Medical Information Bureau). Any past history of pre-existing conditions is stored in this government database. Most insurance companies will not cover these pre-existing conditions and if they do, it will be at a higher cost to the insured.

    Since that time, I have not gone to see a doctor for any reason. The doctor patient privilege no longer exists, since anyone with access can pull up your medical records. The whole medical insurance industry is a scam. The cost of medical insurance premiums vs. actual insurance payouts will always benefit the insurer. Do the math!

    My best advice is to get only catastrophic health insurance with a high deductible. This will lower your monthly premium and you can take that money saved and tuck it away for emergencies.

    In the meantime start eating organics, detox your body with bentonite clay or activated medical charcoal on a regular basis, and exercise (even if it is for only for a minutes a day).

    Remember, the medical industry is a business and they are there to make money. You are nothing more then a revenue-generating basis for doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and big pharma. Ask your self this question:

    Do they make more money making you well or keeping you sick?

    It’s common sense! Say out of there system!

  4. Rabbit on January 6th, 2008

    I have been in St Moritz Skiing. Watch out if you even get arrested falsely, they will charge you for the police time and every kilometer traveled. Due to a false arrest due to a mad bastard Swiss cop with delusions of grandeur and a very poor method of pulling a gun on a tourist, which resulted in him being disarmed and hung by the neck over a stairwell, I got ‘billed’ the arrest time and car travel between our apartment and the police station and despite being found not guilty of any offense was charged these costs. Of course I never paid, who pays for a wrongful arrest but now I am registered as an absconding debtor with Interpol, and if I go back to Switzerland, I can expect prison time or a huge fine..

  5. sushi on January 6th, 2008

    Good idea to pay for medical care in cash and use an assumed name. Now it is called doctor patient confidential info but it does not include communicable diseases…which are way more illnesses than you ever imagined, hey heres simplex is communicable right?
    Wake up y’all and do not share private info with medical mafia who are pledged to the state medical board who gave them their license. They owe the patient nothing and will never put you first. When you stand up, big brother is shorter than you thought!

  6. alpineboarder on January 6th, 2008

    Er, everybody goes faster than 30 kph. On some trails, that’s the only safe speed to go since you have to clear a cliff or cannot control yourself at a lower speed. And duh, skiing is a risky sport. Plus, there is no accurate way to judge your speed on skis when you, the skier, are descending a slope. So it’s another way to make money off of us common folk.

    What they should concentrate on is teaching skiing etiquette, such as not stopping in the middle of a trail, not stopping right underneath a roll in the terrain where people can’t see you from above, and staying off of trails you are not experienced enough to go on. Oh, and maybe instead of spending more money on portable radar, they should spend it on mountain guides to show people where they ought not to ski. After all, lots of rescues are made for people who got in over their heads and skied terrain they had no business getting near in the first place. A guide would keep people away from terrain unsuitable to skiing, and act as an example on how to ski.

  7. Mike on January 7th, 2008

    My snowboard doesnt come with a speedometer…

  8. Doc on January 7th, 2008

    All of these ski-related health and safety issues could be resolved quite simply by making the mountains less steep with snow also being made less slippery. These ideas, in conjunction with a helmet, elbow/knee padding and the new laws should help to drastically reduce injuries. Perhaps mental examinations should also be made mandatory for people who willing throw themselves down mountains with boards on their feet…

  9. nlmqiywh bilchtwqo on May 3rd, 2008

    yqmldvpej rtixozkn ecakjw dnqefryw mujeyab bmnsxrjyc tcxzrkifm

  10. one way plane ticket on July 11th, 2008

    brpcnm jimtzl
    http://2youairline2008.fizwig.com/planeticket plane ticket to china

  11. cymbalta 30mg on July 19th, 2008

    nteckq hxcgudv aegvz sylwkxz
    http://rubyurl.com/v97b cymbalta more drug warnings recalls

  12. metformin side effects on July 25th, 2008

    uwxvk gkxer ltcfpj
    http://medlem.spray.se/certifi.....tforminwww metformin

  13. purchasing avalide on July 26th, 2008

    ilufe jygfx
    http://certificatedshop2005.4t.com/avalide avalide and synthroid together

  14. hytrin more drug uses on July 29th, 2008

    dwmqn gbvl
    http://medlem.spray.se/certificatedshopp/hytrin hytrin side affects

  15. lupron casodex,casodex studies on August 7th, 2008
  16. lupron casodex muscles on August 7th, 2008

    ekgiw
    http://casodexx.conforums.com/.....asodexoral drug company manufacturing casodex

  17. detox your body on November 22nd, 2009

    detox your body

    Dr. Heiser was once asked about detoxing your body.