https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB-KBaevPqM
I hadn't seen that one before, but it's a great example of how things can go bad quickly.
Cliffs notes for the video impaired- New-ish, highly accessorized C6 Corvette is out for a not-that-fast autocross run. The Driver seems to be within their limits, the car isn't working that hard and going somewhat slowly. About 40 seconds into the run, driver loops the car through a slalom and suffers a cospatial event with a curb.
Broken cars make Tom sad. 
Triple post, Tom. Triple post. 
Makes me cringe every time though.
Wonder what he is going to tell his insurance company?
Slalom that close to a curb was a bad idea IMHO.
Dang. So behind. Thats ok, a Triple post < Tripel post.
That wreck was bad, but it could have been worse. He could have taken out a course worker. Look towards the end of this:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/11/ttacs-black-friday-special-corvette-crashes/
pinchvalve wrote: Slalom that close to a curb was a bad idea IMHO.
That whole setup looked as if they were trying to stuff too much course into too small a parking lot - it seemed to be following the walls closely the whole way.
Brett_Murphy wrote: That wreck was bad, but it could have been worse. He could have taken out a course worker. Look towards the end of this: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/11/ttacs-black-friday-special-corvette-crashes/
Also noticed in this video where the spectator is hit that there is a seated courseworker at the first lamp pole. Major no-no. Seems that safety may have been a bit lax at this event!
I witnessed a C6 Z06 have almost the exact same accident at our Evo School this spring. The driver was just speechless, and everyone at the event was bummed.
At seconds 39 & 40, what should the driver have done? Taking your foot out of it may make it worse.
Dan
It was so much fun the first few times, let's do it again 
It makes me laugh when people blame the course. These cars are weapons, and anybody can buy one. If you're going to drive a car like that, you need to respect it's ability. It's really that simple.
saw something like that twice, once a very long time ago a TR7 got squirley and hit a curb, second time a few years ago a WRX went into a fence post.
so bummed every time I see this video.
I just noticed the banana! 
I've witnessed kind of the same thing happen, C5 Corvette owner was just a little too eager with the throttle through a slalom right near the finish, ended up sliding into a trailer that was parked about 50 feet away from the course. That was at the old South Jersey region's site, in the Atco dragstrip parking lot, which was way too small as well. Also saw an Evo (whose owner was all dollars and no sense) plow through about 400 cones, up over a curb, and into a port-a-john that had a person in it. He slid way far, this wasn't a case of bad course design, he slid for about 100 feet before he even got to the curb. Yea, both feet in, buddy. Slamming the gas won't save it, I don't care how much those SSRs you just cracked cost. The unfortunate individual inside the john was a little bruised, but was taken to hospital as a precaution, and he was fine in an hour. And no, he wasn't covered in crap, it was early in the day, and the john had been emptied that morning.
The sound of cars crunching things might be the worst sound in the world, by the way.
Clemson University suspended their on campus autocrosses several years ago when a new parking services director basically became a one-man hit squad. Apparently he left and the autocrosses were finally allowed back on campus. New director goes to a recent autocross, I guess never having seen one, and has basically banned them again by putting severe constraints on the club. I hope it gets worked out because the club was started back in the late 60s-early 70s. I am unaware of anybody ever being injured at one of tehse events in all the years they ran. The school is big into FSAE and they seem to get a pass. And Clemson has (or had) a motorsports and NASCAR program. Go figure.
1) that just looked ...odd. i'll echo the question of "what'd he do?" hard to tell without seeing where the course was going from there.
2) WHY WAS THE BLUE CAR IN THE BACKGROUND STILL RUNNING THE COURSE?!?! 
Zomby woof wrote: It makes me laugh when people blame the course. These cars are weapons, and anybody can buy one. If you're going to drive a car like that, you need to respect it's ability. It's really that simple.
While the driver was the immediate cause of the accident, a course designer has the responsibility to design a course that's relatively safe. The SCCA's bare minimum rules are no solid objects within 25 feet of the course - looks like he was JUST BARELY inside that guideline - and if karts are on the course, no walls or the like within 50 feet. At a minimum, that course doesn't meet karting safety regs, and it was just barely within the letter of the rules, at best.
Good, so you agree with me then.
We designated a safety steward to be present at each course setup to ensure 70 feet of leeway from any solid objects.
Thus far no accidents, though some have tried to eat up all that extra space.
MadScientistMatt wrote:Zomby woof wrote: It makes me laugh when people blame the course. These cars are weapons, and anybody can buy one. If you're going to drive a car like that, you need to respect it's ability. It's really that simple.While the driver was the immediate cause of the accident, a course designer has the responsibility to design a course that's relatively safe. The SCCA's bare minimum rules are no solid objects within 25 feet of the course - looks like he was JUST BARELY inside that guideline - and if karts are on the course, no walls or the like within 50 feet. At a minimum, that course doesn't meet karting safety regs, and it was just barely within the letter of the rules, at best.
WOuldn't the flip side of that coin be, that the driver CHOSE to go out and attack what is a "marginally" safe course?
Yeah, i already explained how to avoid this situation EVERY TIME.
If you are THAT SLOW, leave your stability and traction control on. It would have prevented this wreck. Ive autoXd a vette with it on and off so there is some experience behind this.
I explained that in many more words in the other thread.
Courses can make it harder or easier for something bad to happen when somebody screws up.
Choices beyond skill level include level of aggression and whether to leave the traction control on.
In this ever changing world in which we live in* , some courses will provide less than ideal room, and some people will turn the aggression up and the helpers down in defiance of their skill level and course prep.
But if we set our sights on being reasonable in our driving choices and set up courses to accommodate mistakes to as great an extent as reasonable, we'll manage to avoid more accidents than if either of these is omitted, no?
False dichotomies give me a headache.
* Also, "in which we live in" not being a mishearing of "in which we're living" gives me a headache. Berkeley you, Paul McCartney. And you, too, Axl, for not fixing it when you had the chance.
Jeeezz....that's a rough thing to have happen.
I've seen 2 autocross wrecks, both on the same relatively large lot. One guy overcooked it and slid sideways about 10' into a very tall solid granite curb, bending a wheel but causing no other apparent damage. The lot is split down the middle with an island with 2 cuts in it that we used to traverse between the two halves, so the course had to get close to the curbs.
The other one was an inexperienced driver with target fixation who didn't put 2 feet in and wound up driving her father's perfect ITR a good 100' off course in a straight line directly into parked storage trailer. She couldn't explain what happened, but was OK. Oh, and dad was regularly a contender for FTD in that same car.
I missed another event at that same lot where a young guy in new Corvette apparently lost it and thought he could power out of it, resulting in the car becoming airborne over the aforesaid high, solid curbs. Lots of suspension damage at minimum.
You'll need to log in to post.
