EDITORIAL: Charge hikers for needless rescuesAs a hiking craze continues to boom in Taiwan, the strain it is putting on the nation’s emergency rescue services has become a serious issue. Some incidents have been serious, and the government and hiking experts have urged people to research, prepare and train before heading into the mountains. The headline of an article in the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in August last year read: “Treating helicopters as taxis,” showing how bad the problem has gotten. The government should perhaps charge for all search-and-rescue missions — not just helicopter rescues — that are clearly due to neglect. Missions typically involve more than 20 personnel, but while no law prevents hikers from calling for help, neither does a law allow departments to charge for rescues.

Source: Taipei Times March 16, 2021 15:56 UTC