It's not the same as getting stuck in a toddlers swing in a quest to be an internet viral video hero.
Time to charge for abusing emergency services ?
- Thread starter Dirk Diggler
- Start date
It's not the same as getting stuck in a toddlers swing in a quest to be an internet viral video hero.
Caporegime
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- 30 Jul 2013
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Absolutely not, the NHS is one of the best things this country has still.
And it'll probably cost just as much to setup and employ people to chase the money, as it does in income generated.
And if we're not talking about Ambulances and hospital, then the police can already charge you for wasting police time.
And it'll probably cost just as much to setup and employ people to chase the money, as it does in income generated.
And if we're not talking about Ambulances and hospital, then the police can already charge you for wasting police time.
Fine them fairly according to wealth in order to give the same financial deterrent to everyone fairly? That's a good idea.
Perhaps we could apply the same principle to other things? Like taxes?
Should just extend the office to all emergency services.
Anything other than an obvious misuse of the emergency services shouldn't ever be penalised to ensure people are confident they can use them in times of need (even if there is doubt to that need).
Did you even read the OP? It's not a blanket charge being proposed.
Yes. And I still don't think we should be charging. As someone else said, what if someone is too worried to call up for fear of their need not being seen as genuine enough.
Just seizing on this particular bit....although tempting, at what point do you start fining people for needing the emergency services due to their own poor preparation? Hill walking in shorts and a tee-shirt during a blizzard might sound pretty clear cut. But what about someone who goes out fairly well prepared, but still ends up getting caught out by inclement or unexpected weather? And who defines what equals "well prepared", or what "unexpected weather" is?
No doubt the response will be "use common sense", but then it become exceptionally hard to justify fining people based on that. You would have to judge each case on it's individual merit, which might end up more costly than the current system.
To be honest, I'd rather we spent more time weeding out and prosecuting prank callers, or those who attack and abuse emergency services whilst they go about their jobs, than judging whether genuine calls are worthy of an extra charge based on metrics which might be hard to define.
Man of Honour
No, terrible idea. People make mistakes, a quick word from the emergency services is all that should be needed.
What is it with GD and wanting to punish and fine individuals!?
What is it with GD and wanting to punish and fine individuals!?
Associate
Better education is more appropriate solution.
Caporegime
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Authoritarians.
Soldato
It has been close to happening.
I think there was a guy that wanted to sail around the UK in a modified bath tub a while back. He was rescued once and told that it was far too dangerous and he shouldn't do it.
After the 3rd time the Coastguard went out to rescue him (he had only covered 10 miles or something), they told him to stop otherwise he would get the bill for mounting the next rescue operation to the tune of 6 figures.
He didn't try again.
If people are going to be stupid, I think its perfectly okay to charge them for the consequences. These are usually pretty obvious though, especially if you can trace bogus calls
I think there was a guy that wanted to sail around the UK in a modified bath tub a while back. He was rescued once and told that it was far too dangerous and he shouldn't do it.
After the 3rd time the Coastguard went out to rescue him (he had only covered 10 miles or something), they told him to stop otherwise he would get the bill for mounting the next rescue operation to the tune of 6 figures.
He didn't try again.
If people are going to be stupid, I think its perfectly okay to charge them for the consequences. These are usually pretty obvious though, especially if you can trace bogus calls
Soldato
Honestly the swing incident isn't really an issue just a stupid thing to do as a teenager (easy to forget we did dumb stuff as well!)
The girl wasn't going out of her way to get stuck she just didn't figure that it could actually happen!
Where does the stupid line begin and end? Who gets to make those decisions? Bit of slippery slope if you ask me.
The girl wasn't going out of her way to get stuck she just didn't figure that it could actually happen!
Where does the stupid line begin and end? Who gets to make those decisions? Bit of slippery slope if you ask me.
But if it was his fault he had an accident why shouldnt he be charged the same as somebody who climbed a mountain in shorts and t-shirt?
There are times that I feel people should be charged/fined for the use of resources where they are intoxicated, but this would be hard to implement. What if young teen came in that had been punched in the face and had been drinking but it was not their fault for example.
I'm interested in your opinion so I'm not going to argue with the bulk of your post even if I don't agree, I'd just like to point out that I did say in the OP that it could be decided by a justice of the peace or similar.
It isn't an isolated incident, it's a Tik Tok trend apparently. I'll add this link to OP so it's clearer.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53578780
Soldato
In some circumstances where they're obviously wasting the time of the fire brigade, yes they should be charged. Take for example the woman who live next to my best mate, she set her wheely bin on fire trying to burn letters in it. Rather than grab the hosepipe she had lying around in her garden she phoned the fire brigade and must've made it sound as if her entire ******* house was on fire. By the time they'd turned up, with multiple appliances, the fire was almost out and bin was basically a lump of plastic. She had a laugh about it. The fire chaps didn't seem to be sharing in her amusement.
Suuuuure... Of course it's a political left-leaning issue. It's got nothing to do with millions of ignorant, selfish, arrogant people who couldn't give a **** about anyone but themselves, it MUST be the fault of the lefties!
Such utterly pathetic lowbrow thinking.