The hazards of being active « The Witch Doctor

Posted by: Witch Doctor | April 12, 2008

The hazards of being active

VISION REQUIRED FOR COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Presumably Allyson Pollock was doing a bit of cost benefit analysis when she published her piece yesterday on the hazards of rugby.

Sir Muir Gray, another public health doctor, seems to think walking is safer.

When we witches introduce a new spell we always measure the benefit against the cost - the cost being the side effects rather than £sd.

We don’t think The Humankind do this very well.

Take for example the strange lumpy bumpy things that are stuck to the ground everywhere to warn blind people that they are approaching a stairway or a road crossing.

No doubt a committee decision.

No doubt well intended.

YOU’D BETTER WATCH OUT FOR THE STRANGE LUMPY BUMPY THINGS AS YOU WALK YOUR EXTRA 3000 STEPS, SIR MUIR GRAY!

But did anyone take into account the blind and seeing people who would stumble or trip over these things?

Did anyone take into account that the peripheral nerves and blood vessels of the blind diabetic might not be in good shape?

Did anyone take into account the cost of maintaining these strange lumpy bumpy things so the glue didn’t get unstuck and the whole thing became a tripping liability?

Is anyone measuring the trips and tumbles and broken hips?

No?

Yesterday The Oldest Sage Witch tripped over one of these strange lumpy bumpy things but her tumble was never measured because no-one measures the cost, just the perceived benefit.

Anyway, The New York Times reports on the downside of an aging population hell bent on keeping fit and active.

“Riding an escalator is not ordinarily considered risky, but a new study reports that from 1991 to 2005, nearly 40,000 people older than 65 were injured while doing so, an average of 2,660 a year. “

ESCALATOR INJURIES RISE IN OLDER ADULTS

And the older males are keeping active on their motor bikes.

“Notably, nearly half of the riders killed in 2006 were age 40 and older, and nearly a quarter were older than 50. The average age of motorcyclists killed in accidents was about 38. “

But in the USA some are not keen on wearing crash helmets apparently.

A NEW RISK OF MIDDLE AGE - DYING ON A MOTOR CYCLE

Do you suppose they have strange lumpy bumpy things all over the place in the USA, My Black Cat?

Or is it just a UK phenomenon?

Or is it just a phenomenon in some parts of the UK?

Where the witches live?

a red apple ……………………