Red tape wrecks British pancake race
A traditional Shrove Tuesday pancake race in Britain was tossed off the menu due to overbearing health and safety regulations, newspapers reported.
The fun event in Ripon, northern England, is an annual Shrove Tuesday charge along a city street by schoolchildren, choristers and office workers, flipping pancakes as they go.
But the organisers felt forced to scrap the merriment this year due to the sheer cost of complying with regulations.
Organiser Bernard Bateman said Harrogate Borough Council wanted to charge them 250 pounds ($550) to close Kirkgate Road for the race.
Insurance risk assessments and paid medical staff in case of any injuries or accidents would also have been required.
"The main issue is the cobbled street that people could slip on. This stupidity never happened previously. It's a shame these issues stop the children enjoying such a traditional event," Mr Bateman told The Times.
"The policing costs are just as bad. The police wanted in excess of 1,200 pounds, which is just ridiculous."
The race, revived 10 years ago, is started by ringing Ripon Cathedral's ancient Pancake Bell, which has rung for 600 years.
New health and safety regulations are regularly blamed for ruining seemingly harmless traditional British fun events, triggering tabloid newspaper blasts at bureaucrats.
-AFP
Article here
It saddens me greatly to see our world going in this direction. If I or my kids fell on the cobblestones, the first thought would be, get up and hope no one saw you. But now people feel that they should be able to do anything, go anywhere and not take any responsibility for their own actions. They think someone should be there to pay for their mistakes. Where are we going to be in another couple of generations?
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that we can't force people to have common sense any more!Somebody else should always to be blame for my stupidity seems to be the general attitude amongst many people.Governments here have reversed some of this by limiting payouts for public liability claims and legislating for higher standards of personal responsibility.
ReplyDelete