Skiing accident
As skiing accidents or ski accidents is referred to accidents of individual or several skiers with characterized caused injuries .
Accident statistics
In the Alpine countries , where there are around 20-30 million winter sports enthusiasts each season, skiing accidents account for around a third of all sports accidents - which roughly corresponds to the number of traffic accidents , but which are far more serious.
In Austria the are according to statistics institute Safe living a year about 60,000 skiers or 0.7 to 0.8 percent of the 8 million skiers (2 Mill. Austrians and 6 million. Foreigners) from a skiing accident affected. According to the leisure accident statistics of the Board of Trustees for Safety and Security , there were around 199,000 sports accidents in Austria in 2003 (24% of all accidents), of which 246 were fatal. Ski accidents occurred 65,000 with around 15 deaths. In the road there were comparable many accidents, but 60 times more deaths (57,800 to 931).
For a complete accident statistics of winter sports , the avalanche accidents are added to the extent that they are caused by touring skiers and off-piste skiers .
The following groups of people who do sports are particularly at risk of injury:
- young slope users
- untrained people who underestimate the amount of physical effort required for piste activity
- and people over 45 years of age
According to DSV accident statistics, the various alpine winter sports (skiing, snowboarding, freestyle, new school skiing, etc.) do not in principle have different levels of danger in relation to the number of people exercising them.
Most common types of injuries
While leg fractures were the predominant types of injuries in the past (especially lower legs and ankles ), in recent decades they have shifted to injuries of other types due to better safety and ski bindings .
The firmer or higher ski boots brought another change in the accident statistics . Their greater safety is thwarted by higher driving speeds, whereby (relatively speaking) the fractures of the shin and / or fibula have increased, as well as injuries to the tendons and ligaments of the knee and other parts of the body.
The classic ski injuries of the past few years were cruciate ligament and collateral ligament tears in the knee, whereas snowboarders today have injuries to the arms. Due to the increasingly harder artificial snow slopes, injuries to the shoulders , but also to the hands with ice and ski poles, are more common. The classic injuries in bad natural snow, such as twisted legs, have become rarer since the 1980s.
The increasing frequency and speed on the ski slopes also causes a growing percentage of head injuries , the carving technique with "catapult falls" also causes injuries to the back and supporting apparatus. Wearing a protective helmet is therefore recommended, and back protectors are standard in ski racing today .
Falls, collisions and ski bindings
Most falls with injuries are self-inflicted individual falls. The most common causes of accidents are falls at high speed, followed by collisions between two skiers. Slow twisting falls - e . G. B. in heavy (wet) snow and on ski tours - as well as threading into solid obstacles such as poles or bushes. Collisions with other piste participants only make up a relatively small proportion of skiing accidents, but are sometimes more severe - especially when children are affected.
Studies have shown that 90% of skiers are out with bindings that are not optimally adjusted, and that every second winter sports guest uses bindings whose settings are outside of the tolerance. Therefore, in the event of a self-inflicted individual fall, the ski seller or the sports shop may be at fault .
Accident costs and insurance
The costs of medical treatment after a skiing accident are usually covered by statutory social or health insurance , but not for rescue . If the ski lift operator , a piste service or similar does not pay for this , considerable costs can be incurred - especially if a helicopter recovery should be necessary.
Insurance companies offer their own packages for winter sports in the most important cases . Such private accident insurances bear the costs incurred - and often also a better care class in the hospital - just like a traditional travel insurance . Various credit cards , memberships with alpine associations and a partially comparable letter of protection from ÖAMTC or ADAC also offer limited insurance protection .
If permanent damage to health remains due to an accident or if the person concerned becomes partially unable to work , a pension is usually only paid by a private insurance company. How far this changes at retirement age depends on the social security law of the respective state.
In the case of partial or predominant third-party negligence, questions of liability play a role, which affects not only personal injury but also property damage . In most cases, the then mandatory compensation is covered by liability insurance .
Slope rules and alcohol
The ten slope rules of the FIS , which were formulated in 1967 and can be found in brochures or posted at many lifts and ski schools , have long been considered generally binding . The Nuremberg Regional Court, for example, summed up its quintessence in a civil case for several thousand euros as follows:
“Skiers have to design their skiing style in such a way that they do not unnecessarily endanger anyone else. You have to behave attentively and with foresight. Your speed must not be higher than your driving skills and the local conditions allow. "
These rules of conduct and the corresponding caution are actually a matter of course in other areas too, so that a possible lack of knowledge of the “10 commandments” in no way exempts you from compensation. If the usual rules were seriously disregarded in the run-up to an accident, an insurance company can relieve this of the obligation to pay. This is especially true in the case of willful injury or damage, but also in the case of impairment through alcohol, narcotic drugs or medication. In Austria in particular, the FIS rules and also the POE rules (draft slope regulations) have often found their way into jurisprudence. They are not valid legal norms, not even common law, but they come as a summary of the duties of care that must be observed when practicing alpine skiing, and when applying the general principle that everyone must behave in such a way that they do not endanger anyone else , significant importance too.
Ski accidents involving prominent personalities
- Dieter Althaus 2009
- Natasha Richardson 2009
- Friso from Orange-Nassau 2012
- Michael Schumacher 2013
Individual evidence
- ↑ Leisure accidents statistics "Safe living" 2004 , Board of Trustees for Protection and Safety on behalf of the Austrian Ministry of Health , Consumer Protection and the European Commission , Vienna 2004. Lawyers Roland & Roland
- ↑ a b safe in the snow - data and facts. (PDF; 86 kB) adventure-magazin.de, 2008, accessed on January 28, 2010 .
- ↑ a b Badly insured - expensive skiing accident , help TV
- ↑ Ten rules of conduct for skiers ( memento of the original from October 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . International Ski Association (FIS)
- ↑ decision Text 8Ob266 / 01b RIS
