8 spectators killed at an offroad race in Ca.

[Edm]

I watch a lot of WRC and other offroad racing. I am surprised you don't hear of more incidents like this. There are not any fences and the spectators will set up right next to the course. Some spectators will actually jump out on the course in front of a vehicle for a picture. You would think that people would be a little smarter, these Baja trucks are 8000 pounds and run 120+.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing...ory?id=5465256

[Benny The Mule]

"The driver had to flee the scene because of the unruly mob". Ya, let's all stand 10 ft from the track to see a truck jump then get mad when it crashes. The event will be canceled, the driver and the series will be sued and the driver will be charged and convicted of manslaughter...........thanks to ALL the stupid people.

[tedrichard]

Darwin's law of natural selection at work, I'd say. Sorry, yeah it's a tragedy any time people get killed like that, but COME ON PEOPLE, take some responsibility fer crisakes!!! It's real hard for me to work up a lot of sympathy for anyone who is brain dead enough to stand there INCHES from hurtling barely in control 2 tons hunks of flying steel and then cry and whine when the inevitable happens! And yeah, it's just GREAT pr for motorsports, isn't it? Anybody old enough to remember the LeMan's carnage of 1955 and the ensuing outcry against motorsports? That was the reason that the AAA got out of sanctioning racing and there was considerable consideration among legislatures all over the world about banning motorsports outright.

[AB195]

The Race Will Go On--

I'm out here in the Las Vegas desert right now, big coverage of the Vegas To Reno Race, and more coverage than ever for all of the wrong reasons.

The promoter is suspended, and the Clubs race organizer should be in jail. All eight spectators killed were within arms reach of the race cars, and no security was there to prevent that.
Fans were at fault, as was the driver who didn't lift off the throttle. But spectators also die in permanent racing facilities, with guardrails, cement walls, and fences.
But these wannabe racers and weekend warriors in this cross-country type of racing lack self control, as one journalist stated, and the abuse to Federal land and animals. But with that said, the Desert course is inspected before, and again after the race, and the land is returned to pre-race status as much as possible, which is very expensive to do.
The massacre last Saturday has painted off-road racing with a broad, bloody brush. But that will pass in time.