Gentleman snaps off $1 million sculpture

would have thought a greater attraction is the singing ringing tree for this kind of environment

No reports yet of the gentleman suing the City Council for allowing easy public access to the dangerous sculpture or of Lye being sued for creating a dangerous sculpture… so, of course, it’s totally expected that the incident took place outside of the US.

Flat charges that don’t discriminate between persons that make unsafe products or operate in a dangerous way and those that operate safely and responsibly doesn’t incentivise safety as well, in my opinion. I’m not arguing against insurance, just for accountability and liability for bad actors, especially in product and public safety.

You keep repeating that canard. Why? What in the ever loving fuck make you think accountability does not exist?

ACC is not about removing accountability. It is about ensuring that injured people get the support they require, in an equitable way, at minimum overall cost to society.

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While I’ve enjoyed your nuanced discussion and respectful dialogue, you don’t seem capable of anything but a knee-jerk reaction that ACC is just terrific, just like insurance, and everyone is taken care of. People decidedly on the left end of the spectrum have called the perverse incentives to deny claims and the resulting pain and suffering “sociopathic.” e.g. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/105207533/thousands-of-acc-independent-reviews-invalid-lawyers-say; https://thestandard.org.nz/acc-perverse-incentives-and-sociopathic-policy/

Which, to be fair, resembles the similar worker’s comp situation in the U.S. But workers comp and accident insurance is just part of the system, and doesn’t include the product liability/public safety aspect of the system. My experience with tort law and insurance convinces me that it does better in incentivising good practice. I’m not going to continue to try to argue at your sixth-grade, invective-filled level. Have a safe day.

Your ‘Standard’ link rather supports the point I’ve been making. That article - from 2012, when national was in power - is an example of the death of a thousand cuts approach they were enacting. It’s notable that Irishbull isn’t seeking to do away with ACC, s/he wants it to work the way it was designed to. Similarly, Broughton’s article is fundamentally about having ACC work better for claimants, not that it encourages unsafe practices or that it’s a fundamentally unsound way of dealing with accidents.

As I said at the beginning of our lopsided interaction: I :heart_eyes: it when folks opine on stuff they don’t understand.

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Pics or it didn’t happen!
:rofl:

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Some other types of insurance policies have requirements. Like home insurance you need a smoke alarm and you pay more if you are in a dangerous location like a flood zone or a landslide prone area.

He variously blamed

  1. Boredom.
  2. A crowd who cheered him on didn’t stop him.
  3. Lack of warning signs, “Do Not Try to Break the Sculpture”.

Fortunately he will not be able to sue the Wellington Council and the Len Lye arts foundation for making the sculpture too weak to withstand nimrods who decide to “test its limits” (and find them).

“I seemed to attract a bit of an audience […] and I started to test the limits of the metal sculpture.”

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The gentleman is a local. He knew it was a sculpture. There is a sign, identifying it as a sculpture.

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So much this. I did half my masters degree at the University of Victoria and love Wellington. Such a beautiful city.

I’m still wondering what makes a sprinkler worth $1 million.

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It’s New Zealand - no medical bills.

In fact his injuries, rehab, and any income lost will be covered by ACC - even if he’s a visitor.

Most countries in the world don’t send you home from the hospital with horrifying bills - that’s American exceptionalism

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OMG, what an utter jerk! :astonished:

I’m curious what your direct experience with ACC is?

Personally, I worked for them for 3.5 years in the mid 2000’s although I have never needed to claim. @JonS is a native New Zealander who clearly understands the ins and outs of an imperfect, but overall good system. @WasitabatisaW have you used ACC or worked for it? I’m interested to see whether your opinions come from first hand knowledge or a little bit of searching Wikipedia, google, and the National Review archives?

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It seems designed to climbed on. If art is within reach of people, then people it will get.

I blame the artist and the city and think this guy has a lawsuit he could file.

I’m pretty confident he wouldn’t collect a plugged nickel from the artist.

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