I could swear something similar happened earlier this year. Anyone remember which rally that was? Auntie Carlos, something like that? Hasn't been written about at all since it happened, so I've gotten a bit fuzzy on the details.
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I said this on Reddit and got downvoted: when Paddon hit the spectator and killed him, I blamed MC for not having adequate spectator safety. It may not be as widespread as in Poland but their issues haven't been isolated. Hell, Latvala ran into a group of people on the outside of a square right turn covered in black ice in 2016. It's true that Poland's security issues are overblown by everyone; it's also true that spectators are out of control rally-wide. Groups of spectators ready to get hit all along a stage rather than at a few points.
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Spectator slipped off of a small cliff onto the stage... marshal couldn't have done anything. No one could foresee a slip on a wall could they? Be standing on a rock next to the stage in Argentina... unimaginable and no one to blame but nature if it does happen!
Slipped? He was standing near the road and got hit with the rear of the car. That falling/slipping from a cliff was after he was thrown there.
Also the possibility to slip from a cliff and get seriously injured without getting hit by a car should also be quite obvious...
Poland got yellow card in 2016... then in 2017 you got 1 stage cancelled and lot's of people in bad places even in the official broadcasts.
Clearly when other candidate events are available they had to drop them, else nobody else would care about the FIA warnings.
Note that Monte was dropped 2009-2011 also at least partly due to spectator issues.
I also think the average speed of the event is a factor:
Monte Carlo: 89kph
Poland: 116.5kph
You can't account for individual spectators taking risks which we saw the results of in Monte this year.
But you have to be able to manage the large majority of spectators and I think that is why the reaction to Poland this year has been so negative.
Onboards showed the photographer was effectively crouched in a ditch just next to the road where Hayden went off. He didn't fall off anything and was stood in an irresponsible place. It has been discussed so much this year. I guess that's why some forumers reacted angrily.