GPS tracking devices as moral hazard

Considering the national attention paid to the recent rescue of three climbers stranded on Mount Hood, it comes as no surprise to learn that legislators in Oregon are considering a bill that requires mountaineers to carry signalling devices such as cell phones and GPS trackers whenever out on the slopes. Such technology, proponants of the bill say, is inexpensive compared to the pricey equipment used by modern-day climbers, and requiring their use will make matters much easier and safer for the rescue teams sent off to save them. Or maybe not. According to Jim Whittaker (readers may remember the name: he was the first American to climb Mount Everest) “reliance on technology often creates new dangers, not only to climbers but also to rescuers.”

It is a classic case of a moral hazard, wherein the redistribution of risk away from an individual causes them to act more dangerously than before. According to Whittaker, many more climbers nowadays, finding themselves in a slightly tricky spot, use their cell phones to call rescue personnel, even though in hindsight is was clear they could have made it out on their own. “In these cases, the high-tech devices wasted rescuers’ time and cost taxpayers huge sums of money,” Whittaker explains, noting that the local sheriff’s office in the Mount Hood affair spent more than $30,000 on the effort, although the law permits recovery of only a tenth of that. Moreover, “sending a distress call could result in rescuers being sent out into a life-threatening situation for no good reason, which is why most rescue workers oppose the law. The last thing we want to do is create a situation where climbers feel that if they carry a locator, a rescue is guaranteed.”