Amusement Park Blues
Anyone vacationing in Berlin, Germany would be well advised to skip amusement park rides. Fourteen unfortunate people who were stuck 50 feet in the air for almost an hour last summer have now been billed the equivalent of $420 each by the local Fire brigade for their rescue. The ride operators have refused to pay as they claim they did not call emergency services and did not need help rescuing the trapped riders. One would think if the operators had everything under control it would not have taken so long to get the people down. Also, shouldn't they have refused the service if they did not need it? Instead they allowed the fire brigade to step in and rescue the people, but now claim no responsibility. One family one the ride is being charged 3 times because husband, wife and child were all trapped. Nothing quite like being traumatised and then billed for the privilege. Stefan Fleischer, spokesman for the fire brigade, has said they are looking at the decision to charge the riders again. But he also feels it was fair because the riders could make an insurance claim or sue the operators of the ride. All I can say is welcome to the beginning of the path that leads to the litigious society we have over here folks, maybe you better think about it first.http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091116-23303.html
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