Freeze, Huck!

Huck Finn might be in handcuffs if he tried to float a raft down the Arkansas River these days. And Mark Twain would presumably have to write an epic novel about the importance of water safety.
Three teenagers were arrested Friday and two adults Saturday after they attempted to float down the rain-swollen river. One of the adults ended up needing emergency rescue help.
Wichita police arrested and handcuffed all of them for the crime of reckless navigation and swimming in a prohibited area.
It’s pretty clear that what they did was dumb — are people watching too much “Jackass”-like stunts on TV? — and maybe they deserve a citation and fine, because public resources were needed to bail them out.
But should we arrest and handcuff people for such public stupidity? If so, there would be a lot of people in jail.
What are the acceptable limits of public risk-taking? Reader Mark Schooley e-mails that Wichita is woefully backward in punishing people for taking adventuresome risks. People living out west, he points out, routinely get into trouble dealing with ocean surf or whitewater rapids, but they aren’t handcuffed and arrested.
He speculates further: “Actually, if somebody contracted bacterial disease during the River Festival float, would they be arrested for reckless navigation, since it is well known that the river contains fecal bacteria that can make one sick?”
What do you think? Click below and weigh in.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

One Comment

  1. Monica
    Posted June 20, 2005 at 6:09 am | Permalink

    My sister and I did this when we were in our late teens, back in 1971. The river was not swolen, and there was no dam in those days, but we went all through the park area and had a ball, hanging our beers over the side of the raft and enjoying a lazy summer day. Nobody bothered us or made a case out of it. I think it shows how times have changed and how paranoid American society has become.