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Comment by codinghorror | Hacker News Reader

Terrible tragedy. I can definitely see the argument that Airbnb hosts should carry insurance for freak accidents / deaths that occur on their property in cases like this.

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AirBnB should sell insurance that covers common issues hosts have, or partner with insurance providers, or adjust their % cut a bit and include this insurance for 100% of bookings

Yeah the hosts should assume all liability and pay for cost of freak accident insurance...of course not Airbnb!

Does a newspaper bear responsibility for classifieds they post?

If you're talking about Craigslist...they have a far better warning and flagging system than Airbnb does.

I.e. If you try to buy a car they warn you about possible scams before you can look at the listings. Airbnb certainly does not do enough to proactively warn potential guests that they cannot vet the safety of any unit listed on their website.

Ok. Fair enough.

Probably not much, but it's a silly comparison since newspaper classifieds do not work the same way: It surely helps that the newspaper is not managing the inventory, payment processing, photography, and customer relations on behalf of their sellers.

It looks more like criminal negligence. Insurance is for things that cannot be foreseen or prevented. This looks more like a case of a missed inspection.

Their residential tree swing inspector must have missed his yearly visit.

Not sure if you are being sarcastic, but there are people who can be hired to inspect trees to make sure they are healthy and structurally sound. If a host is going to highlight a tree swing as an amenity of a property, then they should should inspect that tree on an annual basis, if only to protect themselves from potential liability issues. In this instance, that would have likely prevented this tragedy.

If it were on a national hotel chain then maybe; but I think with something like that part of the appeal is the freedom it represents. No metal and bolts, just an old tire or piece of wood strapped around a tree branch. I don't think it's reaonable at all to assume it would be inspected. (if you're looking for that kind of security I don't think you'd use airbnb)

I think it's just a tragic accident, yes it could have been prevented, but what accident couldn't be? There are risks everywhere, and trying to remove them all isn't possible or efficient. We go after the low hanging fruit because it saves more lives. If this were carbon monoxide poisoning or a fire (with no smoke detector) I'd be with you blaming the property owners - but this wasn't something they should/could have prevented.

How quaint.

You grew up in the city, right?

No?

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