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28 Feb 2002, 16:16 (Ref:224485) | #1 | ||
Take That Fan
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Posts: 9,104
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Interesting Article on BBC news Online About Rally Safety
Just found these two article's on BBC news online.
Education key to rally crowd safety New rally fans should be taught how to watch the sport in safety, an investigation has concluded. It follows Carlos Sainz's accident at last year's Network Q Rally of Great Britain The report also recommends the introduction of professional stewards and major changes in how events are organised in order to prevent a repeat of last year's injuries. Thirteen people, including two children, were injured after being hit by the Spaniard's Ford Focus in the Brechfa Forest region of west Wales, near Carmarthen, in November. The children, aged 12 and 14, were air-lifted to hospital after suffering leg injuries, while two adults suffered head and neck injuries. The Motor Sports Association (MSA) immediately launched an inquiry into Sainz's crash and another accident, which occurred on the Llandudno-based Cambrian Rally last November. In that incident a car also ploughed into spectators. One of the key recommendations is that spectators not familiar with the sport should be educated about where it is safe to stand in order to watch races. The report says these spectators "must be correctly and safely managed" and that the MSA should "immediately instigate a programme to educate rally spectators". The report concludes that there should be "wide-ranging changes in the organisation and promotion" of rallies in order to reduce safety risks. Professional stewards "The recommendations are comprehensive and will clearly affect special-stage rallying at every level," said MSA chief executive Colin Hilton. "Some proposals can be introduced immediately by MSA staff, but others will require regulation changes by the Motor Sports Council or cooperation from our motor clubs and regional associations." Organisers of future rallies will be obliged to provide an officer in charge of spectator safety, with the MSA planning a licensing system for clerks of the course and safety officers. Taking rally safety to the next stage BBC sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar gives his reaction to the new measures designed to make rallying safer for drivers and spectators alike. The measures proposed by the Rally Safety Study Group make perfect sense. Some people may be surprised that some obvious measures like ensuring no under-age marshals are allowed to officiate anywhere are not already standard practice. Appointing a spectator safety officer for each rally seems like common sense, and the idea of employing professional crowd control personnel at the busiest rallies is overdue: Overdue partly because of the changing nature of the rally fan. The bobble hat and thermos flask image of the rally enthusiast is changing, especially at the major events. Rally organisers are noticing a new breed. They call them yobs and yuppies. Yobs turn up at the special stage at 0745 GMT with a can of lager in hand - and another 12 in the cool box - and get drunk and belligerent. Thumped The yuppies turn up in their rally-replica Subaru WRXs and Mitsubishi Evos but aren't prepared to be told what to do, where to stand, or how to behave. Several marshals were thumped by spectators who did not want to do as they were asked during last year's Network Q. Abroad, especially in Corsica and on the Monte Carlo, spectators play suicidal games like trying to slap the roof of the cars as they fly by. Or packing the bends with ice and snow to make it more exciting, or potentially fatal for the drivers, depending on your sense of humour. Rallying's biggest problem is the not fully evolved spectator who simply wants to take unreasonable risks. While the sport's authorities have to do their bit and follow best practice, they can not be held responsible for those not prepared to take their own safety seriously. ] |
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1 Mar 2002, 15:50 (Ref:225194) | #2 | ||
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If you go to the MSA's website there is an article and full cover of the report on there. It talks about all safety issues including marshalling.
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