We had a guy in an STI hit the gas instead of the brake at the finish lights, and ended up flying though the lot, through the staging barely missing two cars, and jumped a curb and killed a fire hydrant. I missed that event, and that's the only accident I can think of at one of our regions in my auto x history (about 13 years).
Matt B wrote:mapper wrote: How about the guy who lost a wheel during a run and then had a siezure. Found a gun, bowling ball, porn, and pot in the car. Busted car, ambulance, and cops. Bad day for him.lmao - I certainly don't like hearing about wrecks, seizures, or wacky-tobaccy busts. However, combine them with the intelligence of a guy who chooses to autocross with a firearm and a bowling ball in his ride and you have sure-fire national lampoon's material. I mean honestly.
Not that funny, really......
I was competing at that event and the driver had his seizure while driving the car (after course retrieval and the wheel had been re-installed) just next to the paddock/grid area. The screaming engine (bouncing off the rev limiter) got everyone's attention real fast. In the middle of a seizure, the driver had zero car control and it went where it was pointed.
The car veered to the right, bounced off a median's curb and launched into a small tree. Said tree kept him out the main thoroughfare; if he missed it, the car would have been out of control in the middle of traffic.
Had the car turned left, he would have been accelerating into the event site, with people and cars located about fifty feet away; I was was one of those people.
Exciting - yes. Scary - oh, YES!
Funny, ummm not so much.
Arent people who have siezures not allowed to drive?
Also, how can anyone allow a car to pass tech with a GD bowling ball in it?
Actually, 16vCorey brought to mind an incident I'd forgotten about, but my gf found my copy of the police report I'd filled out in a box somewhere. 
At the one and only autocross our $2004 Challenge Saturn attended before the Challenge itself, I was at the start line and watched the car ahead of me blow through the stop box, cross the street, hop a curb, and plant itself in some bushes. Don't know why - the course was safe and nobody else had trouble stopping - maybe his foot missed the brake?
I've also spun completely off the runway at Devens a couple of times (once as the driver during an instructor demo run - oops!) but no damage from any of those.
maroon92 wrote: Arent people who have siezures not allowed to drive? Also, how can anyone allow a car to pass tech with a GD bowling ball in it?
Until the rules stipulate a complete, up-to-date medical exam to go with a valid driver's license, it's up to the entrant to make that decision - unless, perhaps, someone (at the event) has prior experience with the driver's medical issues.
As for the bowling ball, I don't remember that. I certainly do remember the reliable reports of a firearm and drugs found in the car after the incident.
If there was a ball in the car in Tech, he should have immediately been told to remove ALL loose objects from the cabin/trunk and return when finished. That doesn't mean any of said items couldn't be returned to the cabin/trunk before runs were made.
The entrant has to exercise some common sense and responsibility; neither were evident in this incident.
In reply to oldsaw:
From what I remember he had cleaned out the car for tech and then put everything back in the car.
oldsaw...Are you an Atlanta regular? Don't need a name but what car/class do you run? I was not out for 08 and probably not this year but hope to be back for 2010.
Steve 90 CSP
mapper wrote: In reply to oldsaw: From what I remember he had cleaned out the car for tech and then put everything back in the car. oldsaw...Are you an Atlanta regular? Don't need a name but what car/class do you run? I was not out for 08 and probably not this year but hope to be back for 2010. Steve 90 CSP
Hey, Mapper!
WAS an regular until the work schedule, car-issues, and thus finances/motivation intruded on participation.
Someday I'll re-join the group, but not until I'm employed gainfully enough (at this point - at all) to get my ef Civic back on the road and the courses.
I ran with the Atl region from '84 to about '04/'05 in CSP, EP, STS and DSP.
Thanks for asking!
I meant... People with siezures arent supposed to have valid drivers licenses... How'd he get away with that one.
I knew the driver/owner of that scirocco that rolled at Natl's...
maroon92 wrote: I meant... People with siezures arent supposed to have valid drivers licenses... How'd he get away with that one.
Undiagnosed condition?
Governmental bureaucratic/physician/patient interface failures?
Drug-induced?
Any of the above, or something else..........
oldsaw wrote: Funny, ummm not so much.
You're right. My apologies. The way it was described, I didn't know anyone else was in danger. I'm sure it wasn't funny to anyone at the time. In either case, seizures are certainly no laughing matter. Whether you're driving a car or not.
However, a bowling ball, firearm, and illegal drugs present in any car competing in motorsports does sound like a cohen brothers script.
heres a question for you guys.. I am in a local club so maybe its overlooked.
when is the last time you saw someone check for a drivers license at an autocross event?
maroon92 wrote: I meant... People with siezures arent supposed to have valid drivers licenses... How'd he get away with that one.
Umm.. My uncle has epilepsy and a driver's licence.
Siezures can be controlled with proper medication, he hasn't had one in years but you never really know.
I don't think a past history of siezures can bar you from getting a driver's licence. If so, we should stop people with a history of heart disease from driving because they might have a heart attack.
Hell, they let deaf people drive I don't really see how that can be safe, I was nearly hit by a speeding police car because I didn't hear the siren over my way-too-loud stereo (dumb teenager).
Shawn
Apexcarver wrote: heres a question for you guys.. I am in a local club so maybe its overlooked. when is the last time you saw someone check for a drivers license at an autocross event?
Last event I was at required a driver's licence and club membership card.
Does the insurance REQUIRE a driver's licence? It's not on public roads.
Shawn
At all of our events, the registrar checks for a valid drivers license.
I think if you have a seizure you have to wait two years to drive again.
mapper wrote:Gotsol wrote: In reply to mapper: "Here in Atlanta there have been several incuding a Subie into the blue wall and an older Vette into a lightpost. Cars have lost wheels several times. " You forgot, or didn't see the yellow type R hit the wall and the IS 300 wagon lose two wheels. Also, in CO I saw some kid in his mom's new E46 M3 spin and hit a curb. He did some damage to the entire rear suspension.Forgot about the Integra. Blue lot about 4-5 years ago. I got one run in my Miata and was on grid waiting when that happened. Never knew about the IS 300. How about the guy who lost a wheel during a run and then had a siezure. Found a gun, bowling ball, porn, and pot in the car. Busted car, ambulance, and cops. Bad day for him.
The guy with the IS 300 wagon is an old buddy of mine. He's paraplegic, and has his tires/wheels mounted at a store. His (formerly) trusted store had hired some new people, and one of them was the new service manager-who didn't understand what the car was going to be used for. The other was the clown that overtorqued the lugs. They checked the torque with a wrench at the event, but since the wrench just clicked like normal, they didn't know about the overtorque. Came up to a Chicago Box about half-way through a fast course, and SNAP!..away they went.
I've seen a couple of cars go through chain link fence, and I had an shiny happy person in a 911 try to run me over on the grid (and subsequently was ejected from the event.) He was mad because he got red-flagged when somebody else spun on course. He didn't understand the concept of a re-run, nor did he care to listen. He also didn't care for the concept of staging, he thought that he should be allowed to complete one run and then head immediately back to the start line. Of course I was working staging that day, trying to calm him down and talk some sense into him.
At our events, everyone gets checked for a drivers' license except the kids in carts.
At one event a few years ago, a n00b got lost on course and proceeded the wrong way. Since there were three cars on course at the time, this was a BIG problem. Red flags waving, the announcer screeching, people running and yelling, it was like the Keystone Kops for a few seconds there. Thankfully, all ended well.
In 25 years I have seen two incidents. One involved a back end of a Camaro coming around and tagging a steel light pole. The car was un-drivable after that. The second incident was an old Bug eye sprite coming around a big sweeper and literally getting up on two wheels like they do in the movies. For a couple of seconds it looked like it was going to roll but the driver got it under control and it came back down on the tires. But it came back down hard! Overall it could have been a lot worse though so a happy ending.
In reply to Wowak:
Don't forget threatening to sue you should your thoughts stray from how awesome this person was.
The really sad thing is this person actually thought he did well on course...
mapper wrote: Found a gun, bowling ball, porn, and pot in the car.
How in the name of screaming tress did he ever pass tech?! The guys around here make me take my damn floor mats out even though they are velcroed down!
mapper wrote: Found a gun, bowling ball, porn, and pot in the car. Busted car, ambulance, and cops. Bad day for him.
[Colonel Kong voice] Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff. [Colonel Kong voice]
Re: Siezures and licenses
My wife had a major siezure two years ago. She had been driving 40 MPH on a busy street not five minutes before.
Texas requires that a medical review board consider whether to pull licenses of people with siezures. They did not pull hers.
No more siezures, with medication. Even so, I do not let her drive.
Pediatricians / Pediatric Neurologists have a saying: Every kid gets one free seizure. Lots of things can cause a seizure that are not a seizure disorder (Sz D/O). Electrolyte imballance, for example. Got too hot? Didn't drink your Gatorade? Drank too much water? Got really drunk last night? Running a high fever? New onset of Diabetes type II? Got a new brain tumor? etc. Even a thorough history and physical with no negative findings doesn't mean that the autocrosser won't seize on the way home. Too many variables. Different states have different laws on driver's licenses for people with seizure disorders. In general, if the Sz D/O is well controlled, they can have a DL.
In reply to maroon92:
In Michigan at least, it's 6 months. I've got a close friend who had a tumor in his brain that caused seizures... scary stuff.
Trans_Maro wrote:Apexcarver wrote: heres a question for you guys.. I am in a local club so maybe its overlooked. when is the last time you saw someone check for a drivers license at an autocross event?Last event I was at required a driver's licence and club membership card. Does the insurance REQUIRE a driver's licence? It's not on public roads. Shawn
I never understood the requirement for a drivers license for a competiton event. Nonetheless, every autocross I've entered has requested it, but I've never once seen tech inspection.
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