NEW YORK, NY Dec. 13 (DPI) – Two days after a volcano erupted in New Zealand and killed at least 12 tourists this week, The New York Times pointedly asked why anyone would be permitted to get near it in the first place.

The answer, readers replied with remarkable unanimity, is that the tourists wanted to, and they knew the risks of setting foot on White Island, located on one of the northernmost points of New Zealand. As one poster put it: “Events like this are relatively infrequent on White Island, very hard to predict, and part of the attraction.”

In fact, many readers suggested that the NYT’s instincts for nanny-state regulation reflected a basic lack of understanding about adventure activities, which are common in New Zealand.

Among the most popular of more than 500 comments linked to Wednesday’s report:

Sorry, but anyone who sets foot on an active volcano clearly knows they’re playing Russian roulette. In fact, that’s part of the appeal. So, instead of blaming authorities for “allowing” visitors to the island, why not blame the individuals themselves? At what point should common sense take over and people take responsibility for their own lives? I’d say the moment they decide to walk around and explore an active volcano.

For most of recorded history, humans were smart enough not to walk around the inside of an active volcano.

I am a geophysicist, and my PhD was party based on research at White Island. However you don’t need a PhD to appreciate the difference between an active volcano and Disneyland. Most grade school kids can understand this. This is not the first disaster on White Island, in September 1914, an eruption killed 10 sulfur miners. Only a camp cat survived, which was found some days afterwards by the resupply ship. When you visit the crater of an active volcano, you take a real risk that the system might leave equilibrium and blow up like a bomb. Events like this are relatively infrequent on White Island, very hard to predict, and part of the attraction.

I lived in New Zealand for a year. Unlike here, people there are quite reasonable and pragmatic. Kiwis understand that certain individual actions may potentially have consequences. Their inclination is not to leap to litigation or significant government intervention. New Zealand is a beautiful country. Some of the volcanoes, mountains and other natural terrain maybe dangerous. You have to accept some risk involved in order to explore some of these beautiful places. To expect the government or litigation to protect every individual is unreasonable.