It Still Feels a Little Unsafe. Maybe We Could Require the Swimmers to Wear Seat Belts?

Texas cracks down on high dives.

[Via Virginia Postrel.]

Comments

[Paul W]

Per my reading of the article, it seemed to be referencing high dives at municipal swimming pools, which the government is free to include or exclude as it would like. It isn't (again per my reading) saying what kind of diving board you can have at your own, private pool.

[Timothy]

From the code:

99) Pool--Any man-made permanently installed or non-portable structure, basin, chamber, or tank containing an artificial body of water that is used for swimming, diving, aquatic sports, or other aquatic activity other than a residential pool and that is operated by an owner, lessee, operator, licensee or concessionaire, regardless of whether a fee is charged for use. The pool may be either publicly or privately owned. The term does not include a spa or a decorative fountain that is not used as a pool. References within the standard to various types of pools are defined by the following categories.

[Link]

[Timothy]

I take that to mean I can have a high-dive in my back yard, but, say, a local townhome association would have to meet the new standards.

[scape]

Moore says "there are studies all over the place" proving that diving boards put swimmers in peril.

If you google "diving boards" and injuries I think you'll find that about 75% of diving injuries occur in lakes and rivers, not in swimming pools. And of those that do occur in pools, most come from diving off the deck into shallow water, not off boards in deep water.

[Number 6]

Paul- Your point is duely noted, but has little bearing on whether or not the law is silly. The linked article was not a meditation on who has the right to mandate diving board height, but an attack on the stupidity of a law passed by risk-phobic bureaucrats.

[Randolph Carter]

I haven't seen a high dive at any public-access pool in more than 10 years. There were the ubiquitous "some kid fell off it and died, so the club got sued" stories, and they fell off the landscape. Even the local YMCA, which has a high dive, only lets their diving team use it.

[Warren]

Oh holy dust of saint sandals. Can the Nanny State ever go too far? This is truly depressing. I think I can hold out till noon, but I'm pouring the rotgut at the stroke of twelve.

[Paul W]

The linked article was not a meditation on who has the right to mandate diving board height, but an attack on the stupidity of a law passed by risk-phobic bureaucrats.

If the risk-phobic bureaucrats are, for example, paying liability insurance premiums, they might have a good reason for not wanting to have high-dive boards at the pools that they run. This is just supposition on my part, since the article doesn't really go into it. Frankly, the article is pretty poor, and doesn't clearly dileneate -- is a church or club prohibited from having a high dive, or just government-run pools? What exactly are talking about here?

[mediageek]

Warren, pour me one while you're at it.

[Pro Libertate]

How ever did I survive my largely unregulated youth?

[David]

Tell me about, PL. My brother and I used to jump off the roof of our house into the pool(maybe 5 ft at its deepest). Once you learned to angle your body the right way, it wasn't that dangerous.

Frankly, the article is pretty poor, and doesn't clearly dileneate -- is a church or club prohibited from having a high dive, or just government-run pools? What exactly are talking about here?

From Timothy's link, it seems like everything except residential pools.

[Larry A]

Damn, damn, damn!

Frankly, the article is pretty poor, and doesn't clearly dileneate -- is a church or club prohibited from having a high dive, or just government-run pools?

From the article I see that Cottonwood is city-owned (government.) I would presume that Gleneagles Country Club is private. And Texas Pool on the Creek is non-profit. I doubt there are any for-profit pools. Pretty well covers the territory.

[Timothy]

More from the code: Pool types are defined as follows:

(A) Class A pool--Any pool used, with or without a fee, for accredited competitive aquatic events such as Federation Internationale De Natation Amateur (FINA), United States Swimming, United States Diving, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSHSA), events. A Class A pool may also be used for recreation.

(B) Class B pool--Any pool used for public recreation and open to the general public with or without a fee.

(C) Class C pool--Any pool operated for and in conjunction with:

(i) lodging such as hotels, motels, apartments, condominiums, or mobile home parks;

(ii) property owner associations, private organizations, or clubs; or

(iii) a school, college or university while being operated for academic or continuing education classes. The use of such a pool would be open to occupants, members or students, etc., and their guests but not open to the general public.

(D) Class D pool--A wading pool with a maximum water depth of 24 inches at any point.