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dangers of autocrossing Posted by MJM [Email] (#872) [Profile/Gallery] (more from MJM) on Wed, 1 Nov 2000 17:02:51 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Video of autocross turned tragic.
http://www.mkiv.org/lilviv/coolvids/Corvette_Skill.mov
I'm not trying to be gruesome in showing this, and definitely don't want to start a round of "how gross can we get?", but this video really reminded me of how quickly a fun afternoon can turn tragic.
There always seem to be people at these racing events, whether something
small and "safe" like autocross or even big events like NASCAR or F1 races who take the dangers involved far to casually. Tall fences usually keep spectators a safe distance away from the track at the big races, but when there are no fences, such as at a local autocross, people seem to assume that there aren't any dangers, either. Look at where the people in the video were sitting.
At the last autocross I ran, there were spectators who were yelling at one of the SCCA people for telling them to move further away from the track. The spectators had a little (4-5 yrs old) kid with them, too. What's wrong with this picture? Perhaps we're numbed by TV to think that 200mph is fast and 160 is slow, so then the 40-50-60mph speeds at the local autocross must be really slow. It's not.
My point is this, yes, playing with our cars is really, really fun, that's part of the joy of car ownership for many of us. Let's not forget though, that there are uncertainties involved in flirting with the edge of the traction envelope in 3200 lbs of automobile, even in a "controlled" low-speed environment such as an autocross. Both as drivers and as spectators, let's not get complacent regarding our safety and the safety of others, whether on the track or on the street.
regards, Mike
http://www.mkiv.org/lilviv/coolvids/Corvette_Skill.mov
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