When do governments cease to be responsible for our misfortunes? My last blog mentioned the death of a 41-year-old cyclist in Toronto when his bike tire became lodged in a stretch of unused streetcar track. He was not wearing a safety helmet and he was carrying a bag of groceries on his front handlebars. There are rumours the case may lead to a lawsuit.
Apparently, similar incidents in Canada and the US have sparked litigation against municipalities, for example, in Seattle 6 cyclists sued the city after falling along the streetcar line. Their lawyer argued the city breached its duty to keep streets safe by failing to provide adequate warnings of the streetcar route.
In Montreal, a cyclist hit an indentation in the road and she successfully sued the city for $113,193.10 because she claimed the pothole was not easily visible. Also in Montreal, a cyclist was awarded almost $900,000.00 when her wheel became trapped in the grates of a drain in a small viaduct.
When did people stop taking responsibility for their own welfare? Of course, it’s horrible when people get hurt but how can the city protect all of us from everyday accidents. I will never forget an incident that occurred when I was a teacher. There was a severe snowstorm and the school caretaker did his best to shovel the snow and clear a path to the school entrance. Needless to say the snow continued to fall and a parent slipped on the ice on the school property. She successfully sued the school because she broke her leg and claimed she needed childcare for her children for the next 6 months plus rehabilitation therapy for herself. Personally I think accidents happen. If I fall on the sidewalk, I won’t be looking for someone to blame for my misfortune. I’ll remind myself to wear more sensible boots the next time or I’ll stay home when the weather is lousy.
What do you think about the above situations? How much responsibility should we place on our governments to ensure our safety?
Posted in General, Government, Health, Mothers Against Naked Riding Campaign, NOBI, Safety
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Tagged Accountability, Bike, Helmets, Lawsuits, Safety, Stop Naked Riding, Toronto
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Even Olympic athletes have serious accidents. The following video shows the horrible accident Simon Whitfield experienced early in the cycling portion of his 2012 Olympic triathlon race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG9Po6Ef5Z8
If you watch the replay of his accident in slow motion, you can see he takes a serious blow to the head. Thank goodness he was wearing a safety helmet. Although he is probably in a lot of pain from the road rash and stitches to his foot, his injuries could have been much worse, even fatal, if he wasn’t wearing his safety helmet.
What drives me crazy is the people who insist they ride their bikes carefully and, therefore, don’t need a safety helmet. I’ve always said that your life can change forever in a mere 30 seconds. Consider the 41 year old Torontonian who died this week while cycling. His bike wheels got stuck in the streetcar tracks and the blow to his head (he wasn’t wearing a safety helmet) cost him his life.
Please help spread the word about helmet safety by sharing our “Mothers Against Naked Riding” campaign information with your friends! The easiest way to do this is to “like” and “share” our MANR video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF-FfYKrgGk&feature=g-upl
Hope you’re having a happy and SAFE summer!
Posted in Brain Injuries, Fitness, General, Health, Mothers Against Naked Riding Campaign, NOBI, Safety
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Tagged Bike, Exercise, healthy living, Helmets, Olympics, Safety, Simon Whitfield, Sports, Stop Naked Riding, Tail Wags Helmet Covers, Triathlon
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How kind of Canada to give all Canadians the day off work today in celebration of my birthday! Even I’m going to give myself the day off from blogging … but don’t get too excited for me because I’m still working all day at the Kempenfest Festival in Barrie. Good thing I LOVE what I do because working doesn’t feel like work for me!
Hope you enjoyed the long weekend and please stay safe!!!
My neighbours have been experiencing contractor hell! They hired someone to oversee the extensive renovations to the front of their home that included new stucco, portico, staircase etc. Initially the work seemed to be going nicely and on time. It wasn’t until the final stages of the project that my neighbours realized the poor quality of the work done by the subcontractors hired by the project manager. Repeated efforts to get the contractor to repair the damage were unsuccessful. Now it’s up to the courts to sort out the mess via legal means.
They aren’t the only ones I know who have had problems with contractors. A contractor recently threatened some friends after they withheld $600.00 of a $20,000.00 landscaping job. They explained the final $600.00 would be paid when the pathway was completed as per their original contract. The contractor threatened to take a mallet and break up the entire pathway and even threatened my friends with the mallet. Needless to say, they called 911.
No one wants to resort to legal means when they have problems with a contractor. It’s expensive and takes a long time. If you’re hired someone in good faith to do a job, everyone wants to see the job finished professionally. So what can you do if this happens to you?
Fortunately the social media sites provide everyone with a BIG voice. You don’t have to suffer in silence any more. The most effective way to deal with workers who provide lousy service is to write a review about their work on an online directory. My eldest son has been working this summer on a site, www.eieihome.com, as part of his employment responsibilities at a marketing firm and the site is looking for additional reviews (both good and bad) about contractors you hired to provide home services. This includes plumbers, electricians, painters, and landscapers just to name a few.
Your review may save someone else from the nightmare experienced by my neighbours and friends. It also helps to promote the services of contractors who do amazing work. This summer, we did a major renovation to our house and, fortunately, all of the workers did a fabulous job. Of course, I was happy to “sing their praises” on www.eieihome.com and I hope my reviews will lead to additional work for them. I hope you’ll post reviews on this site as well!
Thanks for supporting my son’s work and, at the same time, helping to ensure that lousy as well as great contractors are rewarded accordingly.
I recently received an invoice from Getty Images for $1800.00 for 2 images I used on my blog site without realizing they were licensed images. Of course, I removed the photos immediately and replied to Getty Images with the following explanation: I found the 2 images as a result of a deliberate search for royalty-free images, and in a location I genuinely believed was open source/royalty-free. Needless to say, the matter did not end there. This experience has left me feeling extremely vulnerable because it’s becoming increasingly confusing and complicated determining which songs, images, logos, and tag lines are licensed and which are license-free. The world wide web is changing the way we all interact and do business. Does this mean I will be billed every time I quote someone even if I give him or her credit?
I sincerely hope Canada doesn’t end up like the US in terms of the large number of lawsuits. Frankly I don’t want to live in a society where I’m looking over my shoulder the entire time. I’m not sure if it’s greed that is perpetuating this issue or the overabundance of lawyers who are looking to stir up business.
This blog is meant to serve 2 purposes. Remind people that you have to be extremely careful when using images found on the internet. As well, encourage you to share your stories so we can all learn and, hopefully, avoid costly mistakes.
I just need to rant right now so this blog is going to be raw and extremely emotional! I just heard from a very close friend, Michael, who received his medical results today. He has bone cancer and just 3 months left to live. Life is so unfair! Michael never seems to get a break in life. Michael and his wife lost their first and only baby when he was just 4 days old. They tried for years to conceive but she suffered several miscarriages before they were blessed with a son.
Chemotherapy would probably help prolong Michael’s life but at $2,000.00 per treatment in the Bahamas, it is unaffordable for them.
Michael has always been like a 2nd father to my sons. When they were young, my kids and I spent every summer in the Bahamas and Michael and his wife, Sherry, were our family away from home. In fact, my eldest son has always affectionately called Michael his “black father”.
Michael is not the only friend to be affected by cancer recently. A girlfriend was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer one month ago. She is luckier because she lives in Canada and is receiving fabulous treatment and she will make a full recovery. She is also one of the strongest women I know and her attitude (which is key to beating cancer) is incredibly positive.
My father-in-law has been battling cancer for years but because of his age (almost 90), the cancer is slow to metastasize, which is a fancy word for spreading. Again he is receiving excellent treatment in Canada. My mom had uterine and colon cancer. Fortunately both of these cancers were detected early and treated quickly so she is now cancer free.
It seems as if cancer is everywhere these days. Despite the innumerable fundraisers that raise millions of dollars for research every year, we still have a long way to go in eliminating this horrible disease. The past month has reminded me we all need to be vigilant in monitoring our own health. I went to the dermatologist this week and had 3 moles removed for testing. It’s probably nothing but I will sleep better at night knowing everything is okay. If you’re over 50 years old, please make sure you go for annual mammograms and colonoscopies. We have tools to catch cancer in the early stages but it’s up to each of us to take advantage of these opportunities. If only Michael had the same medical treatment available to him … sometimes life is just not fair!
Has cancer affected the lives of someone you know and love?
What is this world coming to? Believe it or not, I just discovered a toilet that costs over $6,000.00! While at a local shop for some new bathroom accessories, I was shocked when a toilet lid opened up automatically when I walked by because the sensors felt my presence. That’s not all … this contraption has a bidet, integrated deodorizer, and a air dryer that blows warm air up your butt after you’ve been washed by the bidet. No more toilet paper necessary … just think of all of the money you’ll save (sarcasm)!
Thinking it was there simply for the amusement value, I asked the sales clerk if they actually sold any of these items. And guess what … it’s popular! Talk about flushing your money down the toilet. Clearly some people have way too much money. There are people starving in this world and kids without warm mittens for the winter and yet some people are worried about wiping their own butt. Personally I don’t like spending too much money on overpriced toilet paper and will bargain hunt for Cottonelle on sale. What happens when the sensor stops working and your toilet seat refuses to open? Heaven forbid someone had to lean over and actually lift the lid themselves. Maybe the people wasting their money on this toilet are the couples who argue over whether the other person left the toilet lid up or down. And I suppose this solves the problem over whether the toilet paper should feed from the bottom or the top of the roll??? But seriously, what will they think of next? What new innovation will someone dream of that the rich of this world will decide they simply can’t live without?
I won’t even ask whether or not you’d indulge in a $6,000.00 toilet if you won the lottery because I trust my readers have more sense as well as a greater social conscience. Surely this money would be better spent on providing essentials to people in need!
What I learned in Kindergarden … Sharing! Seems fairly basic to me. So why are we having such a difficult time sharing the roads between bikes, motorbikes, and cars?
According to the CAA, around 7500 cyclists are seriously injured every year across Canada. This statistic shocked me especially since most of the accidents are preventable. This blog post isn’t about placing blame on either the car drivers or cyclists. I’m simply trying to remind people to share the road!
Here’s a great video produced by ShareTheRoad.ca: http://www.sharetheroad.ca/files/player.swf?url=/files/STRAdCampaign.mp4&volume=100
What may seem like an obvious choice to some clearly isn’t to others. This weekend, I drove my son to Kingston with another carload of stuff because he’s going in to his final year of Commerce at Queen’s University. Whenever I’m in the city, I stay with him in his apartment because it’s large and roomy and I’m too cheap to pay for a hotel. He lives in a big home with 12 other students and although it’s chaotic, it reminds me of my student days at Queen’s (I studied there as well – a LONG time ago). The chaos doesn’t surprise me because I know the students are all busy with their courses etc. It’s typically the lack of toilet paper that amazes me. And it’s not because of a lack of funds. There are plenty of cases of beer lying around which cost a lot more than toilet paper. To me, I would have thought toilet paper was an essential household item along with cleaning supplies. Alas, I am mistaken! I refuse to try and imagine how they manage without because I don’t want to gross you or myself out. Let’s just suffice to say that whenever I use the washroom in his home, I bring along a roll of my own toilet paper.
While on the topic of toilet paper, I thought I’d do a survey? Does anyone else besides you change the toilet paper roll in your house when it’s empty? My guess is it’s a job relegated to the moms in most households. Perplexing but true!
When do governments cease to be responsible for our misfortunes? My last blog mentioned the death of a 41-year-old cyclist in Toronto when his bike tire became lodged in a stretch of unused streetcar track. He was not wearing a safety helmet and he was carrying a bag of groceries on his front handlebars. There are rumours the case may lead to a lawsuit.
