Rally Spectator Safety

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Originally Posted by BDunnell

Forgive me for asking what might seem a naive question, but is this sort of thing becoming more common?

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No. Watch a few Group B vids to see that. It's not just events in Portugal either (although those are insane), it was common for large crowds to be stood in stupid spots.

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Originally Posted by MrJan

No. Watch a few Group B vids to see that. It's not just events in Portugal either (although those are insane), it was common for large crowds to be stood in stupid spots.

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In fact, I wasn't thinking about a comparison with the Group B days — there were clearly problems then. But is it my imagination that things did eventually come to improve, and have since deteriorated.

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Originally Posted by BDunnell

In fact, I wasn't thinking about a comparison with the Group B days — there were clearly problems then. But is it my imagination that things did eventually come to improve, and have since deteriorated.

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It's hard to say. Perhaps I've noticed a few more idiots about recently, but so many rallies are more restricted that you tend to be watching alongside more people. And the more people you're watching with, the more likely it is that you're next to an idiot.

That said I watched at a similar spot on RallyGB this year as I did on my first WRC event 10 or 11 years ago and it was much stricter then, perhaps because there were more marshalls in that position than in the spot I watched this year.

What a bunch of wowsers and sanctimonious do gooders you people are.
One of the attractions of attending and watching the WRC rounds is the ability to get right up close to the action.
Herding spectators like sheep into pens is simply not the name of the game and likely does more to drive people away than anything else.
In fact, in nearly 40 years involvement in the sport, by far the majority of incidents I've seen involving spectators being hit by rally cars have ocurred in organised areas or areas where there are large numbers of people gathered together.
Indeed I cannot recall such an incident involving a lone spectator at all.
The freedom to move about and react quickly is the adventurous spectators security blanket. Long may it be so!

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Originally Posted by sollitt

What a bunch of wowsers and sanctimonious do gooders you people are.
One of the attractions of attending and watching the WRC rounds is the ability to get right up close to the action.
Herding spectators like sheep into pens is simply not the name of the game and likely does more to drive people away than anything else.
In fact, in nearly 40 years involvement in the sport, by far the majority of incidents I've seen involving spectators being hit by rally cars have ocurred in organised areas or areas where there are large numbers of people gathered together.
Indeed I cannot recall such an incident involving a lone spectator at all.
The freedom to move about and react quickly is the adventurous spectators security blanket. Long may it be so!

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i must say i disagree with that, i find the solution of creating spectator pens stupid as well but i think basing the security of the spectators on their reflexes is a bit risky.

The best solution is simply more and most of all well educated marshals...in that way you diminish the chance of a serious accident to happen because of stupidity (although i am a big fan of natural selection but, i do not like events to get cancelled because of stupid people) and you just have those that will happen due to just a freak accident (flying parts ects) which are very very rare.

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Originally Posted by sollitt

What a bunch of wowsers and sanctimonious do gooders you people are.
One of the attractions of attending and watching the WRC rounds is the ability to get right up close to the action.
Herding spectators like sheep into pens is simply not the name of the game and likely does more to drive people away than anything else.
In fact, in nearly 40 years involvement in the sport, by far the majority of incidents I've seen involving spectators being hit by rally cars have ocurred in organised areas or areas where there are large numbers of people gathered together.
Indeed I cannot recall such an incident involving a lone spectator at all.
The freedom to move about and react quickly is the adventurous spectators security blanket. Long may it be so!

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I understand your view – but particularly on International events here in the UK, insurance demands ‘spectator areas’. It’s not as bad as it was when they were first brought in, which was about 2002 – when there were lots of spectators in a small area - which is just as dangerous; no room or time to react.
National events, however are far better to watch....lots more freedom...

http://www.ewrc.cz/images/2011/wrc/f...ynildsen_1.jpg

Speaking of spectator safety, are those 2 guys on the ladder leaning on a power cable? It looks like its made of wood so I guess they put a bit of thought into it. :eek:

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Originally Posted by Hartusvuori

http://www.ewrc.cz/images/2011/wrc/f...ynildsen_1.jpg

Brynildsen's crash scared the hell out of me in Rally Finland. I was some 15-20 metres forward from the picture. Luckily the car bounced back on the road. Afterwards I've been thinking how I didn't react at all since I kept standing on the same place - official area - and two more crashes happened soon. Next year if the stage is run, I bet the spectators area won't be were it was.

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Speaking of spectator safety, are those 2 guys on the ladder leaning on a power cable? It looks like its made of wood so I guess they put a bit of thought into it. :eek:

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Originally Posted by Dug83

Speaking of spectator safety, are those 2 guys on the ladder leaning on a power cable? It looks like its made of wood so I guess they put a bit of thought into it. :eek:

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It's not a ladder, but a foot of power line tower. Not perhaps the brightest idea either to climb up there - though it could get very bright.

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Originally Posted by sollitt

What a bunch of wowsers and sanctimonious do gooders you people are.
One of the attractions of attending and watching the WRC rounds is the ability to get right up close to the action.
Herding spectators like sheep into pens is simply not the name of the game and likely does more to drive people away than anything else.
In fact, in nearly 40 years involvement in the sport, by far the majority of incidents I've seen involving spectators being hit by rally cars have ocurred in organised areas or areas where there are large numbers of people gathered together.
Indeed I cannot recall such an incident involving a lone spectator at all.
The freedom to move about and react quickly is the adventurous spectators security blanket. Long may it be so!

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I don't actually see any sanctimony here at all. I agree totally that spectator pens are a bad thing, but this does not mean that everyone is going to behave sensibly when allowed to roam freely, nor that those who take advantage of the ability to do so are somehow immune from criticism if they choose to stand in an unsafe place. By your reckoning, it would be sanctimonious to criticise the behaviour of spectators on the Sintra stages in Portugal in the 1980s.