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Tethers are a good thing of course, but there is NO WAY the introduction of even quad tethers could have stopped this fluke incident. The tethers serve to hold the tyre onto the body in a low closing spped accident (eg. a glancing blow), but in an accident of the sheer ferocity of JV's with a spinning car, there is no tether ON EARTH that could have held those wheels on. In fact, tethers IMO could be potentially v. dangerous to the driver - one could very easly swing back and clock the driver on his head.
The death of the track marshall was a fluke, just bad luck. It ruined what was actually a very good race. He would of course have known the risks, but explaining that to his family would be very difficult right now. He died making the race safe for everyone else, and for that we must owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
The injuries to the crowdon, on the other hand, would have been shards of carbon fibre AND COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED or certainly lessoned. I guess this could possibly have been overted by a hardened perspex barrier rather than on with such obvious gaps. Besides, at such a bottleneck into that corner where there have been numerous incidents like this before, WHY are there spectators on the left of the track anyway??
And, whilst I know i probably shouldn't say this, Jacques really should have been watching what he was doing. If his view to the apex of the corner was obscured by RS positioning his car defensivly in the middle of the road (as ALL racing drivers do, what ever the formulae) YOU BACK OFF. YOU PROCEED WITH A BIT OF CAUTION. You don't think "right, I'm gonna see which side I can do him". This is a F1 motor race, and I thought JV had enough experiance to realise that patience is probably THE most important attribute a driver can have after being merely able to "drive fast".
However, despite all this, it was nevertheless a racing incident and JV can't really be held up to any BLAME as such. I'd hate to be in his shoes right now, poor bloke. But ultimatly, like the train crash in Britain this week, things that move fast are dangerous, and when that combines with a bit of bad luck the consequences are sad. Wheather we're buying a train ticket or a trackside pass there is always that small risk, but WE MUST REMEMBER, THE ODDS ARE STACKED IN OUR FAVOUR.
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