California 200 accident.

http://msn.foxsports.com/motor/story/Eight-killed-in-desert-off-road-race-in-California-081410?GT1=3900

Condolences to the families.

I read about that on yahoo news...I read that the driver of the crashed truck was being assaulted by the fans?!?! What the bork??? I am truly sorry to hear about bystanders being injured - thats really sad and Im sure they were all there for a good time watching some racing. But seriously, if youre gonna watch a race, get behind something for protection.

Did a quick Goog for news articles about the accident, and it seems to be true. Spectators were attempting to attack the driver (some reports say that they were throwing rocks at him). Un-berkeleying-believable. What the hell did these people think they were going to, the Ice Capades?

The accident makes me sad. Anyone who refuses to take responsibility for their own safety makes me angry. The fact that the California Highway Patrol decided to stick their nose in this business makes me sigh. The sensationalism in the national press makes me close my eyes and mutter obscenities.

It's sad for the families and all concerned for sure. The part that's really going to sting for everyone: the lawsuits. That will really put a crunch on motorsports as a whole, even worse than the Porsche driver and his passenger a couple years ago.

drmike wrote: The fact that the California Highway Patrol decided to stick their nose in this business makes me sigh.

umm.. wow. Cops are involved in the investigation of deaths all the time. It's their job. What kinda wacky political agenda are you pushing?

ignorant wrote:

drmike wrote: The fact that the California Highway Patrol decided to stick their nose in this business makes me sigh.

umm.. wow. Cops are involved in the investigation of deaths all the time. It's their job. What kinda wacky political agenda are you pushing?

It's hard to attribute any political agenda, Ig. The linked article specifically noted that the CHP doesn't normally investigate incidents at organized events. They only did so in this case because of the number of fatalities and injuries.

Perhaps you didn't read the article?

If a similar incident were to happen at some location in NJ, it would immediately come under the jurisdiction of the State Patrol. In Italy, it would likely escalate into a national issue with all sorts of politicians seeking attention more than justice. Perhaps it may happen in Cali, too.

I would think that since it happened in the open desert it would automatically involve the pd. I know if something similar were to happen on the beach here they would be involved. Police investigations aren't always a bad thing as when it goes to court an official police report is the only thing that can normally counter any lawyers claim. I would imagine the police report will give a little of the blame to the people that were hit.

Very sorry to hear this. I always wince at the lack of crowd control at these off-road events (especially the events overseas).

I participated in a race at Lime Rock where there was a fatality. The Connecticut State Police did a full investigation (required by their state law). The report they gave seemed complete, fair and appropriate to me. Overall, I'd say that most involved in that incident saw the police report as a good thing. Same law here in NJ.

oldsaw wrote:

ignorant wrote:

drmike wrote: The fact that the California Highway Patrol decided to stick their nose in this business makes me sigh.

umm.. wow. Cops are involved in the investigation of deaths all the time. It's their job. What kinda wacky political agenda are you pushing?

Perhaps you didn't read the article?

nope.. It was on foxsports and they are the devil.

Ok.. No actually I didn't cause the there were a few reposts of this article and other articles didn't mention it.

It's pretty standard for the cops to investigate any death around here, even if it is very cut and dry i.e. suicide.

anyway back to the tragedy, my prediction a whole lot less desert races in the future.

I saw this on the news this morning. I wasn't really paying attention at first, and had no idea what the story was about, but when I saw hundreds of people lining a path where trucks were whizzing by my first thought was "this is going to end badly". It is indeed a tragedy, but it didn't take Dionne Warwick to see it coming.

Spectators were supposed to be 100 ft from the "track". In reality it was more like 5 to 10 ft. They were also supposed to be only on one side and they were on both sides.

While it is surely a tragedy, the spectators seem to have been at fault. I wonder if the sanctioning body had the spectators sign a waiver like the SCCA does just to watch.

Kia_racer wrote: Spectators were supposed to be 100 ft from the "track". In reality it was more like 5 to 10 ft. They were also supposed to be only on one side and they were on both sides. While it is surely a tragedy, the spectators seem to have been at fault. I wonder if the sanctioning body had the spectators sign a waiver like the SCCA does just to watch.

If its anything like the ones I have been to the wavier is on the ticket.

Anyone with an even rudimentary understanding of physics would know better than stand next to a racetrack, paved or unpaved, without a serious barrier between themselves and the multi-ton projectile. Sometimes stupidity IS painful.

drmike wrote: The accident makes me sad. Anyone who refuses to take responsibility for their own safety makes me angry. The fact that the California Highway Patrol decided to stick their nose in this business makes me sigh. The sensationalism in the national press makes me close my eyes and mutter obscenities.

I make no judgement here, just curious about your post. What is your objection to the Highway Patrol investigating the incident? As I understand it there are no charges being filed against the driver.

I'm also curious how you feel the press sensationalised the incident. Again, no judgment, just curious. I had no objection to either and I'm just wondering what you're seeing here that I'm not.

Take care,

Ed

I feel sorry for the families. Not so much for the people standing 10 feet from a two ton vehicle flying through the air. Darwin strikes again.

the press has sensationalized it in a number of ways- some articles mention an illegal street racing accident from a few years ago as an example of how dangerous these events are.

others said that the crowd was going after the driver, and other articles say that the driver was in no danger from the crowd and was doing what he could to help out with the injured and only left the scene after medical personnel arrived.

ultimately, this happened because the people watching it didn't think about how stupid they were for standing where they were. unfortunately, there will be lawyers involved and every form of motorsports in the USA will be affected in one way or another.

I had something here but I only just realized I was being stupid!

Now, the real question- why do those racers have to drive so fast?

Really a tragedy, but not a surprising one.

The dumbest statement I read (in that Yahoo article mentioned earlier) was something along the lines of, "It's unclear what caused the accident." Umm... it was a race. When a vehicle is being driven on the edge of contralability, it doesn't take to much to cross it.

WRC Championship race schedules have been altered due to crowd control issues. It never fails, there's always some dumbass(es) who don't stop to think of what could happen. Sometimes people have actually laid down in the course and in one memorable incident (Catalunya several years ago) a spectator broke a windshield with a rock in an attempt to slow down a hated driver.

Do I have the answer for crowd control? Hell no. But I can hear the lawyer buzzards circling lower and lower, waiting to slam yet another nail in the coffin of personal responsibility by tapdancing with the English language.

Salanis wrote: Really a tragedy, but not a surprising one. The dumbest statement I read (in that Yahoo article mentioned earlier) was something along the lines of, "It's unclear what caused the accident." Umm... it was a race. When a vehicle is being driven on the edge of contralability, it doesn't take to much to cross it.

Very true, and makes me feel for the driver. I know exactly what caused my accident. I'm sure he's rethinking his approach to that part of the course every moment of the day. I just hope that the investigation reveals some sort of mechanical failure.

friedgreencorrado wrote:

Salanis wrote: Really a tragedy, but not a surprising one. The dumbest statement I read (in that Yahoo article mentioned earlier) was something along the lines of, "It's unclear what caused the accident." Umm... it was a race. When a vehicle is being driven on the edge of contralability, it doesn't take to much to cross it.

*Very* true, and makes me feel for the driver. I know *exactly* what caused *my* accident. I'm sure he's rethinking his approach to that part of the course every moment of the day. I just hope that the investigation reveals some sort of mechanical failure.

if there was a mechanical failure, then the lawyers will start going after whoever was responsible for that component- they don't care if they have to take down the person that installed it, sold it, marketed it, made it, designed it, or dreamed it up. they will make sure they get money from someone- even if it's only enough money to pay them for their effort.

In reply to wearymicrobe:

what ticket, it was out in the open desert.

This turn of events will most likely start the doom to open spaces here in Cali. The state is trying to close down open spaces for Off Road use to 2 and 4 wheel vehicles, and are being helped by the feds (BLM) This will be used as an example of why it must be closed.

The promoter should have done more to ensure that the spectators were safe. Per his agreement with the BLM, Cars with in 50 feet of bystanders could only go 15MPH. Also, he had cheesy signs posted that spectators must be 100 feet off the course, but do not know if there were any type of barricade in place. Us stupid Americans have seen too many videos of Rally's in Europe where idiots touch the race cars as they go by at 100 mph

If the lawyers run with this, go after the promoter, not the driver. He has enough on his conscience with out adding to it.

better discussions here than we could ever muster http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/forumdisplay.php/3-Desert-Racing?s=dd74145dc9619d8890779940e47a6b38

also maybe donate to Fast-Aid.. http://www.fast-aid.org/