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The Perils of Roller Blading
America is renowned for its litigation culture and, like most things American, the ‘disease’ is starting to take root in Europe.
In England there is an ever-growing army of no-win, no-fee legal firms. These firms have directly encouraged ‘tenuous’ claims. A growing number of legal firms are now pro-actively targeting potential claimants. This has led to a decrease in the number of reported sport related injuries; as injured sportsman are increasingly making fraudulent compensation claims. The number of broken legs from pedestrians tripping over cracked paving-stones has increased dramatically in recent years.
Paving stones in suburban Britain are now being ripped up and replaced with tarmac in an attempt to cut the ever-escalating number of compensation claims. Miles of paving in cities across the country, including Liverpool, Bradford and Durham, are being removed. Councils are increasingly finding it difficult to cope with the rise in highways compensation claims, which have more than doubled in the past five years. It has estimated that the cost of defending and processing claims, and paying out successful challenges, has been costing authorities £500 million a year.
In Liverpool, up to 800 people a month who tripped on uneven pavements were attempting to sue the city council when claims reached a peak in June 2003. Although about 80 per cent proved to be fraudulent or were successfully defended, costs and successful claims added up to a bill of almost £5.5 million.
Thankfully, Finland remains relatively untouched by the ‘disease’; otherwise Lahti City would long since have been bankrupt.
A senior member of Lahti City once told me that it was the City’s aim to encourage the residents to exercise more. I assume he was not referring to roller blading/roller skiing. The fact is that roller blading in Lahti and the surrounding area is becoming increasingly hazardous. I started roller blading five summers ago in an effort to maintain my fitness and hopefully improve my balance and, by association, skiing technique. At that time the paths were in reasonable condition. Today it is very different; many paths are in an appalling condition. It is fair to say that if I had to learn now, I would give up before starting, as it is simply too dangerous. Some cracks in the ground are as wide as 10 cm and equally deep, incredibly in some instances they stretch distances in excess of 20 metres. This, combined with an ever-increasing amount of sand from construction works - and, worse still, grit that has yet to be cleared from last winter - makes roller blading perilous. It is therefore of little surprise that the number of roller bladers has visibly declined (at least on the routes I take) over the past 3 years.
Outside the city in more remote areas it is sometimes necessary for the roller blader to travel a short distance on the road. Although the vast majority of motorist act in a mature and reasonable way there is unfortunately always the occasional idiot who deliberately drives as close as he/she can to the blader. From this it can be concluded that bladers use poles not for fitness/technique training, but to keep cars away. It seems drivers are prepared to risk knocking a blader over, but will keep their distance if there is a danger of getting a scratch on their eleven year old car.
In an era when more and more youngsters are spending time playing computer games and less time practising sport, it is vital that we give them every opportunity to practise in a safe environment. If the City does not improve conditions, they risk a further decline in sporting standards and possible future legal action from injured bladers (real or tenuous).
With elections on the horizon, I for one will vote for the candidate who improves the conditions of the footpaths.
Mike Bangle is the owner of Talking English language consultancy and can be contacted at mike.bangle(at)phnet.fi
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