The car park isn’t dangerous at all. Just really wet and I’d rather see the money put into the football club or money making business side of Witton. Where does a great car park with streetlamps get us apart from poorer moneywise?<br><br> This is getting boring now Peter so lets just agree to disagree.
In a sign of the silly times we live in, it wouldn’t be ‘safety’ (although it would be promoted as such) consciousness that would cause money to be spent on improving the car park. It would be a justifiable worry that someone out for a quick buck would want to sue the club for an outrageous amount of money for a slight sprain of their ankle when they weren’t looking where they were going (lights or no lights).<br><br>When we start getting enough fans in to worry about the car park getting full - that’s the time we ought to think about major improvements. Until then, look where you’re going, for god’s sake, and if you get a soggy foot because there’s a small pit full of rainwater in your way, don’t blame it on the club - it’s your own fault. You should have walked around it.<br>
Well if they weren’t looking where they were going then its their fault.
[quote] Well if they weren’t looking where they were going then its their fault. [/quote]<br>Exactly. But we have such a bizarre state of affairs these days that someone could easily sprain their ankle in our car park, sue us and win. It’s never an individual’s fault any more when they do something unfortunate or simply stupid. Madness gone mad.<br><br>Anyway, as you say, the car park is a non-issue. We need a championship-challenging team much more urgently.<br>
…and bo**ocks to the elderly and infirm who use it - they don’t make up much of the gate anyway. [smiley=ranting.gif]
[quote]…and bo**ocks to the elderly and infirm who use it - they don’t make up much of the gate anyway. [smiley=ranting.gif][/quote]<br>Well, I don’t remember many car park injuries in the past thirty years - or maybe you know different? - I suppose they could have just kept quiet and suffered in silence in those days. I’m afraid it’s a question of analysing the risk and possible consequences - one of the great unspoken things when it comes to people’s safety. There’s an implicit calculation going on involving how much hardship is being undertaken by those making the arduous and hazardous trip from their car to the gate, and how much it would cost to make this trek more safe and secure. The result of this calculation at the moment seems to be that it’s not worth spending any money making improvements - priorities lie elsewhere. Any inconvenience to fans is a risk worth taking.<br><br>And that’s what it’s all about - risk. If someone fell over in a puddle that happened to be filling a six inch deep pit in the car park (say, while celebrating after a 2-1 win to get into the playoffs), banged their head and ended up with serious head injuries, Witton would have so much pressure applied from outside, and there would be such a knee-jerk reaction, that they would have to spend thousands on the car park. That’s the way of the world.<br><br>You can put a price on human safety, even on human life. It’s been calculated (by the Urban Institute of America) that a person is worth around 2-3 million dollars. That’s the price used by airline companies when they decide whether to put safety features in planes. If they think that putting shoulder straps in planes is going to save 15 lives over the next twenty years, they work out the human cost of 15 lives as being around 30 million dollars. If it’s going to cost them more than that to put shoulder straps in, they won’t do it - simple as that. I’m providing this example to illustrate that cold, clinical calculations are used when it comes to human safety - yes, even safety of the elderly and infirm. Even if people don’t like talking about it.<br><br>So now we get back to more mundane things - the Witton Albion car park. It’s adequate for our current situation and number of fans. If we win the league this year and go up, then I’m sure the position will be revisited. Or if one of our fans wins the lottery and donates the winnings to the club, some of that might find its way to the car park fund - you never know…<br>