Should taxpayers pay for adventure travel going bad?

I’m not going to go into the sad outcome experienced by the passengers of the missing Titanic submersible “Titan”, following the catastrophic implosion that killed everyone on board. What I just want to discuss is who should be responsible for the gigantic cost of search and rescue in such a situation.

Should it be taxpayers like you and me, or more appropriately the exploration company and its paying passengers, ideally under the form of insurance that would bring the “cost-of-entry” into the submarine significantly north of the $250,000 paid by each one of the four rich adventurers? 

Obviously this goes far beyond that incident. Closer to home there are all those who, in the US at least, go skiing or snowmobiling in exposed terrain, get lost or are swiped away by some avalanche, and expect search and rescue by the same tax payers. 

I’d say, enough of that. There has to be some accountability, again covered by insurance for example. If there is no such coverage, it would be up to the next of kin to pay for all the rescue costs from there own pocket or from a compassionate “fund me” account that could be set up for this unfortunate occasion. 

That’s all I have to suggest, because I find it a bit gutsy to count on all tax payers less fortunate than these few wealthy, unproductive “adrenaline seekers”, to finance attempts to locate and save them. My tax dollars can simply be put to better and more compassionate use.