Title – Two Britons die on Vietnam boat – 28th September 2009 (www.bbc.co.uk)
Title – Drowned Britons were on a world bicycle ride – 29th September 2009 (Metro)
It is another reminder, if one was needed, that the adventures we all take part in on our travels are not without risk.
There is no indication that this was anymore than a freak accident resulting in tragedy. However it remains the case that accidents in or on the water is one of the top two reasons for death overseas from accidents; alongside road traffic accidents.
All too often boats can be overloaded, safety precautions inadequate or completely ignored and equipment old, ineffective or wholly absent.
Two of the greatest threats to young travellers in developing countries using boats as a means of travel are inexperience and peer pressure.
Inexperience leads to naivety or an assumption that what is a very safe form of transport in the developed world carries little danger in less developed countries or that local boat operators experience will keep them safe. The latter is often certainly an important factor, but in countries where many people live on or below the poverty line, profit is often the winner in the battle between investment in safety equipment & maintenance or squeezing an extra few (or hundred) passengers on board and safety.
Peer pressure, is one of those problems that is very difficult to eradicate completely. Not wanting to be the one in a group who seems over-cautious or who speaks up when something doesn’t seem quite right, but rather taking the ‘fingers crossed’ approach, has led to many accidents that were avoidable. On boats, not paying attention to safety briefings is common (I know when I was working as a Dive Master in Thailand, it sometimes seemed like I was talking to myself) and not wearing life vest when available is endemic; are you really going to be the only one sitting there in an old torn bright orange ‘waist coat’?
As I say peer pressure is the most difficult ‘problem’ to fix. What we do during Our Workshops is to find ways round the peer pressure or at least somewhere comfortable in the middle. If you don’t want to wear the life jacket and be the odd one out, why not ask for one you can sit on as a cushion? That way you don’t stand out, but if disaster strikes, you will at least have a life vest to hand in the few minutes it can take for a boat to go down.
At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.
For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.
Title – Drowned Britons were on a world bicycle ride – 29th September 2009 (Metro)
It is another reminder, if one was needed, that the adventures we all take part in on our travels are not without risk.
There is no indication that this was anymore than a freak accident resulting in tragedy. However it remains the case that accidents in or on the water is one of the top two reasons for death overseas from accidents; alongside road traffic accidents.
All too often boats can be overloaded, safety precautions inadequate or completely ignored and equipment old, ineffective or wholly absent.
Two of the greatest threats to young travellers in developing countries using boats as a means of travel are inexperience and peer pressure.
Inexperience leads to naivety or an assumption that what is a very safe form of transport in the developed world carries little danger in less developed countries or that local boat operators experience will keep them safe. The latter is often certainly an important factor, but in countries where many people live on or below the poverty line, profit is often the winner in the battle between investment in safety equipment & maintenance or squeezing an extra few (or hundred) passengers on board and safety.
Peer pressure, is one of those problems that is very difficult to eradicate completely. Not wanting to be the one in a group who seems over-cautious or who speaks up when something doesn’t seem quite right, but rather taking the ‘fingers crossed’ approach, has led to many accidents that were avoidable. On boats, not paying attention to safety briefings is common (I know when I was working as a Dive Master in Thailand, it sometimes seemed like I was talking to myself) and not wearing life vest when available is endemic; are you really going to be the only one sitting there in an old torn bright orange ‘waist coat’?
As I say peer pressure is the most difficult ‘problem’ to fix. What we do during Our Workshops is to find ways round the peer pressure or at least somewhere comfortable in the middle. If you don’t want to wear the life jacket and be the odd one out, why not ask for one you can sit on as a cushion? That way you don’t stand out, but if disaster strikes, you will at least have a life vest to hand in the few minutes it can take for a boat to go down.
At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.
For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.
