Safety Laws !

What seems to be a curious anomaly in safety attitudes between countries has involved the Swedish retailing giant - Ikea.   Ikea's famous "flat pack "furniture is sold all over the world and a very popular item is a free standing storage cabinet which contains a number of drawers.   In North America this has been found responsible for the death of six children and twenty-nine million units have been recalled.    It remains on sale here in Australia.

The danger seems to stem from the possibility that if a child pulls out the bottom drawer and stands in it, the entire storage cabinet may topple and create a crush hazard, and it is exactly the type of furniture people choose for childrens bedrooms.   Ikea refuses to withdraw it from sale in Australia, but it does come with brackets to enable it to be fixed to a wall - although these brackets are not accompanied by enabling screws.   Each cabinet comes with a safety recommendation that it be fixed securely to a wall.

This all seems to fall betwixt and between the safety laws in this country.  There is a safety warning and the onus is on the purchaser.  We can - and we do - ban products on safety grounds and prior to every Christmas Consumer Affairs people raid toy shops and the markets to weed out cheap toys that have safety hazards.  Loose batteries. Parts that may break off and become a choking hazard.  Lead paint - which has long been illegal.

Each Australian state enacts its own laws that cover faulty goods and in New South Wales the procedure is crystal clear.  Goods that fail within their warranty period should be returned to the point of sale and the customer is entitled to select "one of the three R's "   -   Refund - Repair - or Replacement.     That is the customers choice - and is not the perogative of the merchant to decide.

Some merchants try to bamboozle the customer by referring them to the manufacturers instructions which accompany the goods - and which call for the goods to be shipped back to the manufacturer - at the customers cost - with the only option being " repair ".   Obviously, many manufacturers sell their product in all states and in nearby overseas countries and that condition applies where no warranty laws apply.   Where goods are sold in New South Wales, the laws of this state take precedence.

There is another scam awaiting the unwitting buying whitegoods in NSW.   Often discount houses will suggest that the customer purchasing a refrigerator or a washing machine invest in an "extended warranty ".   These days many items carry a regular warranty far longer than the traditional "twelve months " and this extended warranty is exactly that, but with the proviso that a brand new unit will be immediately supplied if a fault occurs.    Those not familiar with our state warranty laws are therefore buying something that already applies to the item they are purchasing.

There clearly seems a need to tighten the scope of our safety laws.   We recently had a rash of children injured when fly screens proved to be an insufficient barrier, resulting in kids falling from windows.  Laws limiting how far windows can be opened and standards for fly screens were quickly put in place as a safety improvement.

One of the remaining problems - is consumer apathy.   We still have thousands of faulty washing machines in NSW homes capable of causing a house fire.  They have been subjected to wide publicity and yet many people continue to use them and have not called for the free service repair on offer.

Even the best safety laws have limitations !

Green Slip Boondoggle !

The compulsory Green Slip insurance cover required with ever car registration renewal in New South Wales is the most expensive in Australia.   Every motorist is now paying a premium that ranges from $ 537 to $ 886 - and there are indications that it will increase by between 10 and 20 % in the near future.

Sadly, 7,000 road users are not covered because this is an "at fault "scheme.   As a result the claim process tends to wend its way through the courts at glacial speed and just forty-five cents of each premium dollar actually reimburses victims.   The balance is eaten up in insurers profits, medical expenses - and fattening the wallets of the lawyers who specialise in insurance claims !

The bean counters are appalled at the percentage of claims that fall under either "Whiplash " or "Soft Tissue "  category.   We are well aware that unscrupulous citizens are staging accidents for the intended purpose of claiming for injuries that do not exist.   The green slip cover is seen by some as a fat milking cow from which easy money can be extracted.   Car accidents - at very low speed - take place with the precision of a movie script.  Often, the entire contents of one of the cars is a family who claim multiple soft tissue injuries which are impossible to disprove - and hence claims continue indefinitely.   Now the rules on disability payments have been tightened, this car accident scam is the new way to keep the money flowing.

There is an expectation that the scheme is about to change and that it will be similar to the "No Fault " cover introduced in Victoria.   This will deliver "specific benefits " for a range of injuries and cap the ongoing determinations that presently exist, with a safeguard that taking the matter to court will be available for those who disagree that fair compensation has been awarded.  In such instances, the victim will need to satisfy the court that unusual circumstances apply.

Court action will still be available where an injury that may be trifling to the average person delivers an ongoing debility because of an unusual aspect which would be better compensated by a lump sum award.  In the majority of cases, moving from an "at fault " to a "no fault " scheme will remove the need for a lawyer to decide the outcome.

The police accident investigation branch has been successfully unmasking more contrived accidents. The plethora of cctv cameras that councils have installed in public places and the huge number of security cameras guarding business premises and private homes often record events by sheer chance.   The investigators are cleverly learning where coverage may be rewarding and actual footage of events can disprove the claims made in compensation cases.  Making a spurious claim is a criminal offence and camera footage can lead to prosecution.

The aim of this change of status is to make the scheme simpler - and fairer !   Removing the scams milking the insurance pool will at least stop the sharp escalation of premiums and may actually bring about a decrease.   Importantly, much more of that premium dollar will go to compensating victims rather than flowing into lawyers pockets !

Duty of Care !

This week again saw the notorious "" Hoarders House "of Bondi withdrawn from auction for the forth time.    The elderly owner arrived at the Sheriffs office at four twenty-five in the afternoon with a bag carrying one hundred and sixty thousand dollars - in cash.   Just months earlier, another forced auction sale had been averted by a similar incident when a hundred and eighty thousand dollars in cash had settled a council cleanup bill.

This house in Boonara Avenue, one of Bondi's prestige streets is a regular item of interest to Sydney residents.  It is a "curiosity "because it regularly appears in the news when council work crews with massive trucks and Bobcat loading equipment arrive to to manually remove many tons of household rubbish piled up in and around the house - and completely filling the garden well above fence level.

The owner is an old lady and with her two elderly sisters they appear to suffer some sort of "Repetitive Collection Syndrome ".   The moment the house and yard are clear and the council workers leave they commence raiding the wheelie bins of neighbouring properties and piling rubbish gained on their land.  All this has absolutely no value and some of it contains food matter which attracts cockroaches, rats and other vermin.  The smell is atrocious in summer and the council have declared it a health hazard.

No doubt other Bondi residents must have been disappointed when the owner came up with the cash just twenty minutes before the auction deadline.   This noxious eyesore has been an ongoing threat to the area house price for years and each time buyers gather as auction time approaches there is the promise of relief. There is an expectation that the property would fetch a bid above two million dollars and most likely the aged cottage would be demolished to make way for a new home.

We pride ourselves in the degree of personal freedom we enjoy in this country, but surely this is counterbalanced by a duty of care that rests in the hands of the state.  We are not free to do entirely what we please.  There are laws that restrict many actions that cause damage or loss to others and restrictions apply to what we may build or do with property we own.   We are a tolerant society - but there are limits to personal freedom.

Surely the actions of this "Hoarder Family " fall within the bounds of a "compulsive disorder "?  The stacking of repulsive rubbish metres deep around a family home is not the action of a normal householder and it presents a health risk to both the residents of that house and others living nearby.  As a result, the council acts within the law to send in work crews to clear the hazard.

Basically, this householder is committing "economic suicide "!   Eventually, it will not be possible to stave off auction.  The property will change hands and the hoarding will cease, but the family will receive the surplus sale proceeds and may buy again in a cheaper suburb - and there is every chance that their hoarding habit will recommence and inflict this same misery on their new neighbours.

Perhaps we need to have a second look at our mental health act.   If someone is wilfully dissipating their means of support and living by action inconsistent with normal standards and that action also breaks other laws - there is a need for state intervention to deliver care.   In fact it would be reasonable to contend that living amongst rubbish containing vermin would be a risk to the health of the family that required immediate medical action.

There seems to be a reluctance to invoke health laws which contain fairly wide interpretations for fear of accusations that personal liberty is being restricted.  This clearly seems to be a mental health issue which ticks all the boxes.   The actions of the family are breaking ordinance laws, creating a health hazard for themselves and others - and creating an ongoing drain on their ability to financially survive.

The state would be remiss if it allowed this to continue to its inevitable conclusion !

Speed Limit Options !

The Road Safety people have been spruiking the "Speed Kills "message for many years and that is undoubtedly true.   The police accident investigation branch in New South Wales reports that speed was a factor in 127 of the 307 road fatalities of 2014 and so far this year - for 146 of the 350 road deaths.

One of the options under consideration is a clever device that tracks the vehicle and sounds a loud and consistent warning if it exceeds the speed limit.   It is similar to the navigation systems we use to get from place to place by linking with a satellite and instead of telling the driver which turn to take it monitors the cars speed with the posted speed limits.

The suggestion is that this be a tool available to the courts to impose on repeat speeding offenders.   It has been compared to the alcohol analysis lock which people with alcohol offences must fit to their cars as a condition of holding a valid driving license.    The engine will not start until they blow into the device and record an alcohol free reading.

This ISA monitor leaves the driving decisions in the hands of the person behind the wheel and only gives a loud and persistent speeding warning, and it can not be muted or turned off.  Critics claim that would be a distraction that might be more dangerous than moderate speeding because it would sound the moment the car edged over the posted limit - and it would take no heed of the speed of the surrounding traffic flow.

Most modern cars have cruise control fitted and it is a fact of life that those who travel the arterial highways with a posted speed of 110 kph know that if they fit their cruise control to that limit they are constantly passed by other traffic.   Either other drivers are not using cruise control or have set their unit higher than the posted limit.

There is an option to control highway speeds which has been implemented in some other countries. Cameras capable of reading license plates are strategically located at various points on the journey between cities and computers automatically analyse the time each car takes to complete the gap between cameras - and compare that time with the legal speed needed to achieve that result.  Speeding means they arrive too quickly - and receive a fine in the mail.

That has been tentatively  tested against this nations trucking fleets by has so far failed to get full implementation.   There are no plans to link this ISA speed warning device to actually controlling the speed of the vehicles to which it is fitted.  From a safety point of view, it is deemed essential that full control of the car must always remain in the hands of the driver.

That will change when the age of the "driverless car "finally arrives.   All the cars on the road will be automatically governed to move at a uniform grid speed by their proximity to one another and the surrounding conditions.

Until humans convert from drivers to passengers the speed of vehicles will be at the mercy of human temperament and sensibility !

Fire Safety !

Winter delivered Sydney's coldest day of the year this week and our fire brigade suburban stations braced for a peak in call outs !   Statistically, sixty percent of all house fires occur between the months of June and September.

We have a need to keep warm and cold weather heavily influences the food we prepare.  Fire investigators examine the aftermath of every fire and a familiar pattern of causes emerges.  Of the 175 house fires in Sydney this month, 83 started in the kitchen.

The glaring culprit is food cooked on the stove top - and the common reason for the fire is the person cooking leaving that task unattended.  In some cases, perhaps attention is diverted away by an incoming phone call or the need to attend to another distraction within the house. Frying food risks a flashover from over heating or "burning dry "and igniting and that can set alight to the oil and grease trapped in the range hood - and quickly consume the cupboards.

Food cooked in the oven and left forgotten rarely ignites.   It causes dense smoke damage and can be a danger to the health of residents, but in most cases it is confined to the stove and is so contained. The primary cause of house fires is the stove top - and how the resident responds to a flareup. It is always an increase in danger to treat an oil or fat fire with water.  Ideally, applying a fire blanket or even a wooden cutting board to cover and cut off the air supply will extinguish the flame.

On average, every year over five hundred Sydney residents suffer injury in house fires - and last year twenty-one lost their lives to that danger.  Other common causes were old or damaged electric blankets and grossly overloaded power boards used to supplement inadequate electrical wall sockets.
The golden rule with heating appliances is to be sure that there is at least a one metre gap between them and any flammable object - curtains and lounge chairs.

Candles certainly deliver a romantic atmosphere to a room but should never be left unattended.  A sudden gust of wind can cause curtains to billow or the movement of the residents dog or cat may make the candle holder  topple.   Never retire to bed, leaving candles lit.

A century ago open fires were the main means of heating in most homes but that is now rare.  Firewood is scarce and very expensive and most fireplaces have been replaced with combustion heaters - which require less fuel and safely contain the flame.   Unfortunately, every winter we have a few cases where in desperation to keep warm someone brings a BBQ or an ornamental fire pit into the house - and suffers death from carbon monoxide poisoning.

What is entirely safe out in the open air can be totally deadly in the confines of a room.  Even a gas BBQ lit indoors consumes oxygen in the air and replaces it with carbon monoxide.  This odourless gas causes the user to lose consciousness - and death quickly follows.   Any sort of combustion needs a chimney to vent the gas produced.

We are now at the peak of the fire season.  A very good reason to check that you have a smoke alarm - and it is working !    At least an early warning may allow you to escape the fire and save a life - and the fire brigade will do its best to limit the property damage !

A " Changed " Europe !

The opinion polls hinted that " Brexit " would be the decision delivered by United Kingdom voters, but the ramifications are not entirely clear to all.  A British exit from the EU will have far reaching consequences across the entire world - and it comes at a time when the leadership of America is about to be decided in an unusual contest of individuals.

David Cameron has offered his resignation and it is likely that Boris Johnson will be his replacement. The Tories are deeply divided and arch socialist Jeremy Corbyn will be a serious contender at the next election. The "United " term of the United Kingdom is now in doubt.

Scotland voted 62% in favour of " Remain " and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has made it clear that a second independence referendum is now inevitable.   It is quite possible that similar pressure will develop in Ireland and Wales and Britain may devolve into a nation called " England ".    If that happens, the power of the exchequer will be vastly diminished and it will no longer be a major power in world affairs.

That power was exemplified by having one of the five permanent seats at the United Nations Security council - and the right to implement " Veto ".   America, Russia, China, France and Britain were accorded superpower status because they were the countries armed with nuclear weapons.   Others have joined this nuclear club, but none have been accorded the right of " Veto " and all five have submarines deployed with ICBM capacity.

The only viable British base for it's fleet of nuclear powered submarines is in Scotland and those Trident subs are overdue for renewal.   If Scotland chooses independence it has signalled it would require the base to be closed and there is already budget difficulties in finding the money to build a new submarine fleet.  A Scottish withdrawal would certainly bring this issue to a head.

Should what would be left of the United Kingdom turn to Labor to govern and Jeremy Corbyn become prime minister it is quite clear that he would seek unilateral nuclear disarmament.   The Trident nuclear submarines are the only serious British deterrent to a nuclear war.  Land based missiles in silos and nuclear bombs carried by aircraft are vulnerable to a first strike, hence any country that lacks submarines loses credibility.

All this comes at a time when there are doubts about the ability of  NATO to respond to a challenge. The nations of Europe were quick to shelter under the American nuclear umbrella when Soviet Russia was actively trying to impose Communism on the world.  The threat of Soviet tanks rolling through the Fulda gap and overrunning Europe was very real.

The economic collapse of Russia removed that threat and the European economies declared a " peace dividend ".   They reduced spending on arms and the will to go to war to defend their neighbours has sharply dwindled.  In a crisis, there would be back sliding.

If Britain abandoned its nuclear weapons, European defence leadership would pass to France - and at a time when China is expanding into the South China sea and Russia is showing aggression in Ukraine the Baltic states are getting nervous.

That referendum in the United Kingdom have tipped over the chess board of world power.   We await with interest to see how the pieces are arrayed for the next game !

Law Limitations !

Ask any new age woman in Sydney about abortion and they will assure you it is available " on demand " !   They are right about that,but it is also illegal !    We still have a hundred year old law on the books and both New South Wales and Queensland are the only states that have not taken the trouble to have that law rescinded.

It looks like it may stay that way.   A bill to rectify that omission proposed by the Greens was considered so unimportant that it was moved down the order of precedence and will probably still be waiting to be heard when this session of parliament ends.

It seems a typical case of amending custom by inertia.  A few decades ago the cops were actively pursuing backyard abortion clinics but ignoring well heeled society doctors who were providing this service under various medical labels.   That had feminists kicking up a fuss because women with money had no problems accessing abortion but poorer women were denied service.

The Fred Nile group have repeatedly tried to move obstacles to make access to abortion more difficult, and there are moves to restrict anti-abortion demonstrators from harassing women seeking abortion by moving them 150 metres away from clinic entrances,

That old shibboleth of " letting sleeping dogs lay " comes to mind.   Once a bill to legalise abortion comes to debate in the parliament it will rouse both the churches and the anti-abortion lobby to a frenzy.   The things politicians fear is being forced to openly record their vote for all to see.  It will be a long time to the next state election - but some voters have very good memories.

Another clash with the law happened in Sydney this week.   A farmer chose the peak morning commute to ride his horse across the Sydney Harbour bridge.  It was his way of protesting global warming and it certainly got the attention of motorists, the police and the media.   It slowed the lane he used to a crawl and others slowed to view and photograph the spectacle.

Surprisingly, the police will take no action.  Crossing the bridge on a horse was normal procedure many moons ago and the charge was threepence when a toll was collected at the bridge toll booths. Today the tolls are collected by " E " tags and that threepence has increased to four dollars.  Of course the horse was lacking an " E " tag and it is considered unlikely that tag company will pursue the matter.

The farmer says he was a little apprehensive that his horse may have panicked when confronted with a wall of surrounding noisy traffic, plus the roar of trains crossing the bridge, but it took all that in its stride.   Once again, the absence of horses from the Sydney traffic scene seems to have escaped the attention of the lawmakers.   It is probably a very long time since the last crossing was made on a horse - and it remains perfectly legal.

Some legal people have proposed that all legislation should be enacted with what they call a " sunset clause ".    A specific length of time - after which legality ceases, unless the parliament chooses to renew it for a further fixed period.    The idea is that all legislation would be the better for periodic review to see if it is still necessary - or still desireable.

Of course that does nothing to correct past precedent where Australian law was inherited from the canons of old England and some clever lawyers still unearth ancient decisions that can be used to influence modern day cases.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes for that old abortion law to finally creak its way into twenty-first century legality !