Tomb stoning Dorset, why??

[poozel]

Just catching up on news from weekend.

Read with horror the story from Dorset doors on Saturday. Three people injured tomb stoning, helicopters landing on beach, people squashed up like sardines.

So ok, it's done, awful but done.

Then I click on next link, yesterday, people still doing it, despite the events the day before. The police have asked them not to, the emergency services have out out a statement asking them not to, the roads have been closed, yet people are still jumping.

The landowner says he has given up fencing it as people just break the fences, climb over.

I just do not get it. Even without corona I couldn't go against all that advice and do something which emergency services had warned against.

Add in corona and the social distancing it is absolutely mind boggling.

Am I missing something? Does it just take a certain type of person to defy everyone and carry on as they please. Even if it had been one casualty but three, plus someone with a broken ankle. Crazy.

Were parking tickets being given out? Gotta hope so.

No because Covid 19 means that there are less staff available and the area isn't set up for issuing parking tickets, because there is usually loads of parking.

I think less staff/more visitors will be an ongoing problem over the summer. At the moment I'm particularly worried about people using disposable BBQs as its been so dry.

@Tearingmyhairout0110

The woman injured had broken her ankle while walking on the coast path above Durdle Door. Nothing to do with the tombstoning incidents, but similarly serious due to the inaccessibility of the area for emergency vehicles, so she also needed a helicopter.

People do it all the time at Durdle Door. It's near our Dorset caravan that we go to regularly. Never ceases to stagger Me.

@merrymouse

The landowners are partly to blame for opening the car parks, same with bournemouth beach

I don't know what Bournemouth were thinking, but I live in another tourist destination where car parks have been reopened because people were just parking outside the car parks, sometimes dangerously.

Exactly merrymouse. There was a report in my local paper today saying that idiots parking irresponsibly had held up an ambulance for 90 minutes. Unbelievable isn't it?

these are somebody's children you are talking about

Very much agree.

Lots of people do really stupid things. Their death is still tragic.

Currently the rumour that one of the men has died is just that, a rumour on social media. I don't think spreading that rumour is particularly helpful or appropriate.

@merrymouse

these are somebody's children you are talking about

Very much agree.

Lots of people do really stupid things. Their death is still tragic.

Yes, all deaths are tragic but, sadly, those who choose to undertake selfish actions don't just harm themselves in many cases do they? Dangerous drivers, drunk or high on drugs etc, kill innocent victims. I cannot condone anyone deliberately acting in a way that will almost certainly result in injury/death to themselves or others or to necessitate emergency services/volunteer rescue teams being called out . I mean to say, any one of us could have an accident but to go out of our way to cause one ... ?

You don't have to condone in order to show empathy.

Why on earth should we show empathy?! They didn't think of their parents or the emergency services when they got pissed and jumped off a 200m cliff!

Not to mention the risk they caused to their rescuers. People risked their lives to save them. They witnessed potential death/life changing injuries.

All because some adults chose to be stupid dicks.

I really cannot muster up any sympathy for the victims. Only their families and the witnesses/rescuers.

One rescuer had to swim down and retrieve one of these idiots from the seabed. He endangered his own life to do that. I hope that idiot does something in return for the rescuers.

I do think people like that should have to pay a substantial donation to the air ambulance, as it was down to their sheer stupidity it had to be called out. A bit like when the mountain rescue have to rescue people who go hiking without any equipment, knowledge or suitable clothing, I also think the people they rescue need to pay a donation and I am not just talking £5.

The thing I don’t get about this story is, after Jumper #1 ended up hurt, what made Jumpers 2, 3 and 4 think it was a great plan?!

The air ambulance picked up dd once after a riding accident. We donated £500.

People are used to being able to behave like idiots and the NHS will treat them for free, I doubt they will even consider donating .

I mean to say, any one of us could have an accident but to go out of our way to cause one ... ?

I obviously don't know anything about the people involved, but I can imagine that many people just wouldn't have the knowledge to know how dangerous this is. Parkour, Cliff jumping and Coasteering are seen as mainstream activities. Films, TV shows and social media celebrate people who do this kind of thing, and underplay the dangers.

Obviously theses could have been twats who should have known better, but I'm also imagining somebody from a city who doesn't usually visit the beach, going to Durdle Door because there is nothing else to do and doing something stupid because they were under social pressure and didn't know better.

If you live in a city you will know something about drugs and dangerous driving, but you may know nothing about the sea.

@ReceptacleForTheRespectable

You don't have to condone in order to show empathy.

I have empathy but these 'accidents' weren't really accidents were they? They were deliberate, utterly moronic actions that put other people in danger. And other twunts are doing the same today. Honestly, I will reserve the bulk of my empathy for those who have to rescue them and their families if they did their best not to raise idiots.

Why on earth should we show empathy?!

No reason, except that showing empathy for the parents who may well be reading this forum might make someone's day a little bit less shit.

How must it feel to read someone describing your seriously injured child as a 'twat' or a brain dead tosser', and hear people describing their death/serious injury as 'Darwinism at its finest'? These are human beings who made one stupid mistake, and whose families will be having a really shit time right now. There are very few people out there who can honestly say they've never made a stupid mistake.

Similarly, I obviously don't want my house to be burnt down this summer, but I imagine that there are people who think it is perfectly safe to light a fire anywhere because Bear Grylls does it all the time.

I think we need a massive public information campaign to inform people about the sea and the countryside.

Parkour, Cliff jumping and Coasteering are seen as mainstream activities. Films, TV shows and social media celebrate people who do this kind of thing, and underplay the dangers.

Exactly - there are loads of examples of people doing this stuff relatively safely, and underplaying the potential risks. Making the foolish mistake of trying to do a jump without having the experience to recognise and manage the risks doesn't make someone a bad person.

So what about the people who did it the second day after it had been in the news , what would you call them? I am sure there are signs up there saying not to do it too.

Very dangerous and can't believe people were doing the next day or how many people were there . I live not too far away but not a beach I wouldn't choose to go during partial lockdown as can't see how you can get on it and social distance , and jumping in it's rocky etc
Put other people at risk as well as themselves but video I see showed people cheering them on as well !!
I also heard beach and toad to it was closed but people still went down so not sure why they can't then be legally moved in or spoken to

There are very few people out there who can honestly say they've never made a stupid mistake.

But this isn't a mistake. It's not as if they slipped and fell in some freak accident. They actively chose to jump from height in to shallow & rocky water.

So I can safely say I have never made a stupid mistake if jumping off a 200ft cliff is what you class as a mistake.

@merrymouse

I mean to say, any one of us could have an accident but to go out of our way to cause one ... ?

I obviously don't know anything about the people involved, but I can imagine that many people just wouldn't have the knowledge to know how dangerous this is. Parkour, Cliff jumping and Coasteering are seen as mainstream activities. Films, TV shows and social media celebrate people who do this kind of thing, and underplay the dangers.

Obviously theses could have been twats who should have known better, but I'm also imagining somebody from a city who doesn't usually visit the beach, going to Durdle Door because there is nothing else to do and doing something stupid because they were under social pressure and didn't know better.

If you live in a city you will know something about drugs and dangerous driving, but you may know nothing about the sea.

So if you know nothing about a subject do you normally launch yourself into it (quite literally in this case) without finding out more? I'm sorry but I'm going to have to draw a line under this conversation and agree to disagree with you. I see the actions of those concerned as nothing but moronic and selfish because they didn't care about the men and women who had to rescue their broken bodies did they? Yes, they have the right to kill themselves if they wish but not, in my opinion, to endanger anyone else. I am never going to agree with your views but recognise your absolute right to defend these pillocks. Cheers :)

As a Mum of several young adult males, if they hurt themselves being dickheads, feel free to talk smack about them. They’ll hear far worse from me. Obviously I’ll hug them afterwards, but still.

@merrymouse

Similarly, I obviously don't want my house to be burnt down this summer, but I imagine that there are people who think it is perfectly safe to light a fire anywhere because Bear Grylls does it all the time.

I think we need a massive public information campaign to inform people about the sea and the countryside.

Argh! Only just seen this and have to answer before bowing out. No, we don't need a massive public information campaign because these idiots (and I reserve the right to call them that) wouldn't take a blind bit of notice would they? How many brain cells do you actually need to figure out that chucking yourself off a high cliff might be a teeny bit dangerous? How you can defend them is beyond me ...

You have to pay for the helicopter to pick you up off the slopes in the Alps, even if you are on a perfectly open and marked run. You should definitely have to pay for the helicopter if you are doing something you have been warned is stupid at best and deadly at worst.