ATC clears takeoff aircraft for midair

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...

The lesson here is that it's your job to keep a good lookout for
traffic. Doesn't matter if you're IFR, VFR, talking to a controller,
etc. Always keep a good traffic watch, and do whatever you
gotta do to keep from hitting other airplanes. The tower's sole
responsibility is to sequence traffic and provide separation on
the runways and taxiways. Regardless of all the instructions
and warnings they might give you, legally if you are VFR at a
class D airport, the primary responsibility for avoiding other
traffic rests with you.

One thing you should realize about the phrase "maintain visual
separation". It's more than just a suggestion, it's the controller's
way (for the benefit of the tape recording) of legally transferring
separation responsibility to you.


How can "maintain visual separation" transfer separation responsibility from
the tower to the pilot if, as you said earlier, the tower has no
responsibility for separation?