The lack of short-term rental safety!!

[Sarah Kensinger]

The lack or inattentiveness of safety in short-term rentals is appalling!! Over the weekend 3 people died at a STR in Outer Banks due to a house fire, and it seems like every couple of months we hear of more people dying at a STR. We need more awareness and possibly training for those that operate STR! Justin Ford of Breezeway is bringing awareness and offers a safety course that hosts become certified in all things STR safety; yet so many people have never heard of him! He pointed out the photo below that he came across on the Airbnb platform preparing for a STR safety presentation. Seriously what are the hosts thinking!! This property is a small treehouse that the hosts are cramming 9 guests into!

We need to start talking about STR safety more, and please, politely make your friends/colleagues that are STR hosts aware of dangers that need to be addressed. Guests are guests but we don't need to hand them a stupid opportunity that turns deadly. This is partly why STR are gathering more restrictions is places. If we would educate ourselves better at the safety items other public lodging facilities have to follow, it would help keep guests safer and give assurance to the local community.

Located at one of the top 20 STR in the mid-west, congrats to another brilliant Missourian!.......

[Nathan Gesner]

Short-term rentals are generally safer than long-term rentals or even owner-occupied properties because a large percentage of them are inspected regularly.

That picture is your best example of unsafe practices? Just another example of how our society seems to think they can control life and death with the appropriate number of rules. Some of us grew up without money and learned how to do things on our own without government telling us what we could or couldn't do. That red-neck hottub can be operated just as safely as a $10,000 electric version! Out of curiousity, does Justin Ford talk about the dangers of choking on hotdogs and peanuts, tripping over area rugs and extension cords, or falling off a chair while trying to reach the mixing bowl on the upper shelf? I bet those examples result in more deaths than the hottub you've pictured.

I still believe we live in a free society where people can do what they want with their property and grown adults can choose to participate and take personal responsibility for the outcome. If you feel it's unsafe, don't sit in it, don't let your kids sit in it, and don't install one on your property. I don't need warning labels telling me to not microwave small pets, drink gasoline, or only operate tubs approved by the government.

P.S. Your post sounds like an advertisement for someone's business. I hope that's not the intent because it's a violation of the rules.