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Switzerland installs speed cameras on slopes to catch skiers going over 19mph
Skiers and snowboarders who love the unrestricted thrill of hurtling down alpine pistes on a sunny winters day are about to be stopped in their tracks.Switzerland is introducing speed cameras on the slopes to try to reduce the increasing number of accidents. The first such nationwide controls will treat skiers like cars on the motorway. Speeders will be caught with hand-held radar devices carried by hidden personnel. Persistent offenders could be fined or have ski passes confiscated. The scheme is being introduced after figures revealed a drastic increase in serious ski-related accidents in Switzerland. The booming winter tourism trade has led to overcrowding at the most popular resorts and a sharp rise in accidents. Impeccable pistes and new skiing equipment also encourages skiers and snowboarders of all levels to go ever faster. Last year there were more than 70,000 accidents on Swiss ski slopes, many resulting in serious injuries and deaths. Swiss helicopter rescue teams were called out for serious accidents 300 times in December alone, and the total cost of rescue operations is expected to exceed £100 million.The state-controlled Swiss Accident Insurance (Suva), the countrys biggest provider of compulsory cover, has responded by introducing the speed controls as part of a safety campaign. Angela Zobrist, a spokeswoman, said: This is not another fun-spoiling campaign of the health and safety brigade and we dont intend to raise a warning finger to all snow sport lovers. It is a genuine safety concern. You do not realise how fast you go, which can prove to be really dangerous if you impact with another skier or have any other incident. The monitoring will start today in the resort of Andermatt, and will be extended to the rest of the country, including resorts such as St Moritz, Zermatt and Davos. Similar experiments have been conducted on a small scale but this is the first campaign to include all the top resorts in Switzerland. Studies using crash test dummies on skis, similar to those conducted with cars, have suggested that going faster than 30km/h (19mph) is not safe, and that going faster than 50km/h is potentially fatal. Authorities are exploring the legal options of punishing speeding skiers, although it is complicated because Switzerlands cantons have different laws. Punishments are likely to vary from resort to resort. Speeders will not be fined initially, but will be singled out and approached by Suva personnel and employees of the individual resorts, They will tell offenders to moderate their speed and explain the danger speeding poses to themselves and others on the slopes. Josef Dahinden, a spokesman for the Andermatt resort, said: We have collisions resulting in injuries on the pistes almost every day and the purpose of this campaign is to get people to return to normal speed and go below 30km/h. The move has been generally welcomed by skiers. Katy Laffan, 27, an experienced skier from London, said: To be honest, I do not know how fast I usually go. It could be a good idea to monitor the speed on the piste, but I would say that its not the fast skiers who cause accidents but the ones who are out of control, such as beginners on steep slopes or drunk people. Posted by: john frum 2008-01-05 |
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