2000 Goodwood FoS Inquest Verdict

[Steve Tarrant]

Now back from the inquest.

Verdict given is accidental death for the driver, as no medical or mechanical reason could be found to suggest otherwise.

BUT accidental death was also the verdict for marshal Andy Carpenter, and this I do not feel happy with.

Basically, in testimony it was established that during the safety check held on the Thursday before the event, the MSA safety office missed the fact that the gantry was there at all, and therefore didn't question its placement or its strength, but issued the track licence anyway. Therefore when we marshals used the track on the subsequent days, we believed it to be of use as a protective aid, which was not its intended purpose.

The bottom line is if the safety officer had identified it being there, he had the choice of adding additional protection in front of the structure, OR having it removed before the event.

And if it had been removed, we would not have even considered standing that side of the track.

I know I'm losing my chance of a knighthood by criticising our governing body, but basically it highlights if you see ANYTHING you don't like it's position or question its ability to do the job intended of it, including barriers, then its very much up to you to speak up to your observer and demand he takes it up with officials above him.

If we don't then things will slip back to the way they were and Andy's death will not have taught us anything.

Yes, I am angry as I type this, as I believe an accident that was avoidable and therefore shouldn't have happened has been allowed to occur and resulted in the needless death of a marshal.

I am now going to take the weekend off, to allow myself time to gather any more thoughts before writing anything further.


Steve