Why would any rationale person just lay on the beach without something to indicate they are there? Heck a $8 folding chair with bright red webbing is all that’s needed. A large red ice chest. Anything with some height to it is all it takes. Heck buy a couple orange traffic cones and put one on each side of you.
I’m not ignoring the lifeguards responsibility to look where they are driving either.
But, come on… People have to take some responsibility for their own safety. You can’t run around expecting people to hold your hand every minute of the day. It doesn’t take a genius to realize human skin blends in well with beach sand. A lady lying out there face down, with her top unhooked will be very difficult to spot from a truck.
A lot of people walk or bike to the beach. Bringing folding chairs is pretty difficult in that case. Plus I imagine most people just don’t consider “getting run over while sunbathing” as a serious risk. The woman was from Kansas, a place not know for its glittering beaches, she very well might not have been aware of the trucks. I have trouble seeing it as irresponsible on her part.
I always wondered if this happened when I see those trucks go by though, driving trucks through where a lot of people are lying down in uneven terrain and lots of small children are burying each other in the sand seems like a disaster waiting to happen (or I guess, not waiting).
I took swimming lessons at a beach on Cape Cod when I was 8. We always drove to the beach and parked. A coke cooler chest with soda & snacks was always with us. We had aluminum, folding beach chairs too because mom didn’t like sitting in the sand. There wouldn’t be a problem seeing us on the beach.
Haven’t been back to a beach since we left Cape Cod all those years ago. I’m landlocked and it’s a 8 hour drive away to a ocean beach.
Well, that’s great, you probably won’t get run-over in that set-up. But lots of people just show up with a towel and some sunscreen. And beaches by their nature attract tourists, so I think its a little silly to scold them for not being prepared for a non-obvious danger.
People who go to the beach bring sunscreen, because the sun is a well known danger of going to the beach, even if your from Kansas. And they should know to take precautions against sting-rays because even though that danger might not occur to the average tourist, there are signs posted. But getting hit by a truck is neither obvious nor have I ever seen a sign warning against it.
I used to spend a lot of time at St. Pete beach down in FL, and since I was familiar with it I’d set my towel out near the waterline since the trucks and ATVs don’t go down there. But I’d always get pissed off when I saw the coast guard barrel through in a truck. It seemed like a recipe for disaster, and apparently at least in Daytona, it does indeed lead to the occasional sunbather roadkill.
I often ride my bike to the very same beach this happened at. I usually bring a towel and a backpack, but sometimes when I wasn’t really planning on laying down and catching some rays, I don’t even have that. I like to think I’m aware enough to notice if a vehicle was approaching, and I am a very light sleeper even if I happened to doze off.
And since it’s only official vehicles that are allowed to drive on the beach, I like to think that they would use more care than they obviously did in this case. After this incident, I’ll feel even safer, since this is bound to make them use even more care.
But still, I’m not planning on changing my habits. The thing is, I lie down in the area where most other people do - just past the high-water line and seaweed, where the ground is still sloped. The vehicles tend to avoid this area and stay on the more level area further from the water, where fewer people lie down. If people are back there, they’re usually in chairs and such.
I’m not the type to sunbathe, but I had no idea that getting run over by a truck would be a concern. Guess I’m one of the stupid irresponsible retards who this would happen to, huh?
Lying near the water line sounds like a good strategy because the patrol doesn’t usually drive in that area. That area near the water is can get crowded on a busy day. Everybody likes being close so they can jump into the water quickly and cool down.
From what I recall, the lane where the beach patrol drives is marked. But, on really crowded days people set up their blanket and beach umbrella anywhere there’s an open spot. Then the patrol has to get them to move.
I recall days on Cape Cod where you could barely walk on the beach. It was a really popular tourist spot for people in New England. We happened to be stationed there on a local Air Base.
Seriously, if you can’t just lie down on the beach, where can you lie down?
The accident victims were in no way at fault. They were doing what they were supposed to be doing, where they were supposed to do it - the vehicle was the interloper. Frankly, I think the lifeguards should get off their lazy asses and patrol on foot.
Hell, I didn’t know there’s places where the beach is patrolled by people in a truck. That could’ve been me. (Except for the fact you won’t catch me that close to an ocean. Or a lake I can’t see the other side of.)
Unless the woman had buried herself in the sand, she’s in no way at fault on this. It’s not hard to see a person laying on a beach. Even from a vehicle.
I hate going to the beach when it’s super crowded, so I either go on slow days or just stay away from the super-crowded touristy spots. And there are no marked or designated lanes here. I’ve often watched in amusement as the lifeguards have to slowly weave their way around all the people like a slalom course. It’s not so bad when they’re on the little 4-wheelers, but the pickup trucks are not well-suited for the task.
I suspect that they’ll be cutting way back or completely eliminating the pickups on the beach. Unless it’s an emergency, there’s no good reason, other than simple parking issues, why they can’t just use the street.
The ATV’s are much safer. Except, of course, the case of the drunk on-duty cop(not lifeguard, COP) on South Beach who was whizzing around in the dark with his lights off, trying to impress the chick he picked up at a bachelorette party by giving her a wild ride on the beach.
I couldn’t read the story & not think of the beaches at Wildwood. Granted, it was about 1/4 mile walk across hot sand to even get to the water, but I almost never saw vehicles on the beach during the day.
At night, though, there was literally one passing by every 15-20 minutes: a large tired 4WD truck with a guy on the back with a Stalag-style search light looking for [del] kids getting busy in the dunes[/del] people walking on the beach illegally.
Honestly, you’d think SEAL teams were sneaking ashore to steal salt water taffy and fudge…
“Watch the Tramcar, Please…”
Next time I’m at the beach, I will be sure to bring my traffic cones, some 10 foot tall poles with red flags and flashing lights on them. I’ll also dig a 4 foot deep trench around my beach area, and lay down spike strips.
Otherwise if I’m on the beach and a TRUCK runs me over, someone will be sure to come along and say it was my fault.
Traffic cones? Are you really suggesting people bring traffic cones to the beach? Really? Traffic cones? How about the person driving the pick up truck on the beach just watches where he’s going.
Hell, it’s now state law in Wisconsin that I have to stop for pedestrians in the road. That is, a person on foot has right of way over cars…in the street.
I have to keep an extra eye out now because people abuse that (IMO) and wander into the road from between parked vehicles expecting moving cars to stop on a dime. Fine, I can deal with that, I’ll jam on my brakes and stop and hope I don’t get rear ended. Personally I think pedestrians in the street should at least attempt to not get themselves hit.
But if I’m driving on the sidewalk or in a park or on a soccer field or on the beach I think it’s on me to not hit them. I don’t think the person laying on the beach has any responsibility to watch for moving traffic.
Seriously? When I’m on the beach, my biggest safety concern is not being run over by a truck. I guess that around here, people don’t drive on the beach. The worst I can expect is getting run over by some kids or being hit with a frisbee.
