FROM THE SAFETY STOP
//
L E T T E R S F R O M M E M B E R S
12
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SPRING 2014
Negligence
Your article on liability releases in
the Fall 2013 issue (“Legal Liability
in Diving”) was well done, but my
interest was piqued by Ray Albers’
letter in the next issue in which
he stated he has been presented
with a number of releases explicitly
extending to gross negligence.
Whether a diver encounters such
a release may depend on where he
is diving. In the United States there
is a good chance a release worded
to extend to injuries or death
resulting from the operator’s gross
negligence would be ignored by the
court in which the lawsuit is filed.
Letting the operator escape liability
stemming from gross negligence
is contrary to public policy since
it might tend to discourage the
operator from exercising reasonable
care. Ditto for a release stemming
from the operator’s violation of
a statutorily imposed duty. In a
few states (Hawaii, for example)
a recreational release won’t even
cover an operator’s ordinary
negligence. I would think any
lawyer writing a release would
not dare a court to strike down
his release by including gross
negligence in the wording
— Laurence Schnabel, J.D.,
Templeton, Calif.
Shared Values
Kudos on both the courage and
foresight to print your DAN
member profile on Guy Harvey
in the Winter 2014 issue. Many
divers consider themselves at
odds with sport fishers. My wife
and I are both. The truth is that
both support conservation of
species and protection of the
marine environments, including
marine sanctuaries, and we are
both pieces in the same puzzle
— that of protecting our oceans
for generations to come. Sport
fishers and the people who fish for
their own sustenance are not the
problem; miles and miles of nets
and longlines poisoning the reefs
and dredging are. We are excited
that someone as respected as Guy
Harvey has come out of the closet,
shall we say, and said that we can be
both fishers and divers.
— Jeff Rogers, M.D., via email
The Best of Both Worlds
The Winter 2014 issue has
accomplished what I didn’t think
I would ever see in a magazine:
It combined the indispensable
DAN articles covering dive
education and medicine with
travel articles that are informative
rather than promotional. And
it’s all accompanied by exquisite
photographs and presented with
high production value. Finally the
best of both worlds: what I need to
know and what I want to see.
—Carlos Estapé,
Islamorada, Fla.
Freediving Photography
Kudos for the article on freediving
photography by Stephen Frink.
I would share one additional
technique that I used off Antigua 50
years ago with much success: Leave
your bulky camera and flash on the
bottom. That way you need only
go back and forth to the surface for
air with your naturally streamlined
body. It only works in clear, shallow
water, of course.
— Ted L. Cox, Brooklyn, N.Y
.
Jaw Issues
I was pleasantly surprised
to see the article on TMD
(“Temporomandibular Joint
Dysfunction in Diving,” Winter
2014), and would like to thank
Maureen Robbs for writing it. I have
been a dentist since 1987, a certified
diver since 1981, and I have had
“jaw” issues after diving many times.
One reason for the myofascial pain
(besides the lack of support for the
back teeth mentioned in the article)
is the position of the jaw when using
a standard mouthpiece.
Custom mouthpieces are the best
way to prevent TMD, but if you
Letters
DENNIS LIBERSON
