Re: re: jamoco
Jomoco, while I admire your sentiment, the two man rule would not work. The profit ceiling in this industry is comparatively low. People are only willing to pay so much for a tree removal, no matter how good you are or how expensive your equipment is. You'd lower the ceiling further by having companies paying for two groundies but only getting the productivity of one, since one guy couldn't chip until the other was standing next to him. The result would likely be some good, law abiding companies going out of business, or you'd see a drastic lowering of groundie pay, making it harder to attract good people and run a quality operation.
Product liability is highly trial driven, which makes it highly jury driven. Some products are simply more dangerous to use than others, and most juries get that. I mean, more people are hurt or killed by bikes and motorcycles than chippers, but should we ban them? Impose a 35 mph speed limit? Nah. Car accident injuries could be drastically reduced if all car interiors were required to be made of Nerf, or if we were required to have a co-driver with a separate brake pedal- but somewhere you reach the point of ridiculousness. I'd rather live in a society that recognizes and accepts uncomfortable adult realities than one that attempts to create utopia by passing laws treating us all like children.
That said, there's nothing wrong with continued attempts to make chippers safer. You can bet that just about every safety feature and warning sticker on existing self-feeders is the result of a lawsuit or an attempt to preempt one.
