Editorial: the importance of being morally responsible

Photo: Ove Maidla

A tragic accident happens where not expected. People are hurt or perish. The public is shocked. An investigation kicks in... and is soon over – no necessary elements of criminal offence. Even so, liability is not legal alone, but a notion much broader. It’s not necessarily the establishing and the punishing of the culprit in eyes of law. Rather, it’s the sensing or moral responsibility.

In 2007, a merry-go-round caught fire at a Rakvere amusement park, 41 were hurt. Last summer, a boy of five drowned at children’s play area in Põlva County. Two examples, public knowledge, where none was found legally guilty. Does that mean none should feel responsible?

The Ansomäe ski centre accident with a lady dead and another injured again raises the moral responsibility issue. For snowtubing tracks and slopes – on one such the tragedy hit – no set standards apply. These are prepared according to the conditions at hand. Thus, delving into the details, how easy to arrive at the conclusion that tragic things like that are almost the occasional inevitability. But that should not be.

Go for it! Feel the adrenalin! Night and Day! Oh would the sports and recreation guys be as diligent to advertise and boost safety – then, the prevention might work wonders, perhaps. Alas, the topic is not priority for all. Carefully, however, they stress the liability of the visitor. At that, it is advised to have life insurance – a sign that they know it’s dangerous. As also included in the Ansomäe rule book.

Meanwhile, the same website hawks the track as «super», one for the «toughest tube riders in the Baltics» while adding it «fits both grown-ups and kids above three».

The entertainment business, aimed at the very adrenalin and excitement, is no bed of roses. «Easy to condemn, harder to understand,» were the words of the fire-struck Tivoli Tuur chief Lauri Viikna to media while explaining the scrutiny of officialdom.

Doubtless, laws and rules are needed and necessary to heed. More important still to realise and assure others: we are doing the utmost best to keep the worst from happening. Goes without saying that recreational staff needs to needs first aid training, for instance. Moral responsibility must be part of prevention. Until not the case, here’s how it sounds: that’ll never happen here, and it’s your own life anyway.