Investigating the Kenny Irwin Investigation

[KC]

RACER magazine has provided this link http://www.sptimes.com/News/072900/S...n_charge.shtml to an article by concerning the events that happened after the death of Kenny Irwin in the crash at Loudon. Apparently the proper authorities were not informed of Irwin's fatal accident until two hours later when the general information reached the local Sherriff's office via word of mouth. No one has indicated that there is any kind of foul play or any sort of conspiracy to cover up what may have happened. However, the death of anyone is a serious matter and the local authorities must be brought in to perform an inquest into the death to satisfy the law as to the cause of death. It does not matter that Irwin died on private property or that he died in what is considered a dangerous undertaking. The local law enforcement was not allowed to inspect the wreckage and it was immediately shipped back to Sabco's headquarters and destroyed. According to NASCAR, there is no set plan for a course of action should a competitor or spectator be killed. How is this possible with a multi-billion dollar company? I don't understand this and NASCAR will not answer any of the questions posed by anyone on the matter.

[Joe Fan]

If a driver doesn't die at the race track and can only be pronounced dead at the hospital in situation that Kenny was in, how can local police step in and do studies on the scene of the accident like they are talking about in the article? If this were the case, then every crash where a driver was knocked unconscious there would have to be a baseline investigation under the protocol there are talking about in the article since it is impossible to tell how much damage was done to the brain or the ability to recover from a blow without CT Scans. Then with local authorities who have no knowledge of race car crash technology or the race cars themselves, how helpful can they really be unless they are trained?

I personally think this is it is outlandish and I view this as a bunch of Barney Fife's sticking their nose into a situation just because they think they have jurisdiction. This was not a pedestrian highway vehicle crash I am sorry to inform the Loudon police. And what about these comments in the article: "It's a case where (Loudon police) became as involved as they chose to or not," New Hampshire State Police Maj. Mark Furlone said. "If they have the expertise to do a better investigation than NASCAR, I guess they'll step up to the plate next time."

The bottom line here is the only thing that really needs to be done is a thorough crash investigation of the wreckage by experts, who really should be an independent party. However, I don't think NASCAR's experts would conceal evidence that could save the arse of a potential owner because they would much more to lose than gain from a situation like that. NASCAR certainly has levied heavy fines for teams that circumvented safety in the past. Somebody I remember got a heavy fine for the roll cage tubing being smaller than the required thickness.
[Edited by Joe Fan on 2nd August 2000]

[KC]

Here is the problem from the Sheriff's point of view. It does not matter how anyone in his jurisdiction dies or gets killed, he is responsible for knowing about it and, depending on the local laws, performing an inquest or arranging an investigation into the individual's death. That is common to every state in America. The local magistrate is responsible to determine what happened. What is he supposed to tell the State Attorney General if he should call and ask what happened on that day? I didn't know it happened? That would result in his dismissal or charges being raised against him for gross negligence of duty. The Sheriff never said that there was any evidence of negligence or any other form of foul play. He can be held responsible for it and no one told him. The car that Irwin died in should never have left the track until being released by inspectors, not shipped back to North Carolina for immediate destruction. Just because Irwin was racing on a track does not mean that local, state and federal laws somehow do not apply. Certainly the Sheriff does not have the expertise and equipment to perform an adequate investigation but it is up to him to bring in an independent investigator to look into it, not NASCAR. If NASCAR wants to look it over for their own benefit then that is fine also. But if some sort of litigation arises over this matter, the county can be held financially responsible for not being able to perform their investigation.

[Joe Fan]

KC, if an investigation of a race car fatality on a race track is common in every state in the country like you state it is, then why these statements in the article?

When CART driver Greg Moore was killed in a crash during the Marlboro 500 in October at the California Speedway, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department had no action plan. Note: it was formulated on the spot at the track.

Bahre (the Loudon track owner)said he didn't know the police had to investigate a fatal crash at the track.

"It's on private property anyway," Bahre said. "I think every state, everything has something different. I personally didn't know that the local police had to investigate it because nothing was said after the Adam Petty one."

Certainly, an objective individual can see here that Andy Griffith must have come down hard on Barney Fife, so they now have 20/20 vision that they could have become Sherlock Holmes and solved the mystery with absolutely no expertise in race car crash and safety dynamics. What would have been their conclusion? Death attributed to high speed impact with concrete wall? Oh Gee, that really clears things up.

The fact of the matter is that a NASCAR Winston Cup car is a totally different animal than their passenger version. And this wasn't a vehicle crash on a city street or highway. A red light comes on in my mind after reading several statements I have pointed out above in this post and the other one, that the Loudon police screwed up, didn't have the manpower to investigate and they did not notify the proper authorities on their side. Now to make themselves look important, they want a meeting with Mike Helton to inform him of a protocol that will be in place in the future. Note that Loudon had a fatality to a driver several years back (in modifieds in believe) and what was done then? No mention of that in the article so it appears to me that this is a situation where new ground is being broken and fingers are being pointed wrongfully in the direction of NASCAR to make it look bad.

This jurisdiction thing is not unique to auto racing. The NHL has had battles with local authorities when head coaches have phoned police to arrest hockey goons for assault and battery for on ice incidents. I don't recall that this has ever done any good because the NHL has jurisdiction and the right to suspend and fine players for incidents that take part in their games on private property, with the knowledge that hockey is a physical sport that sometimes involves fighting. I have seen IHL coaches try to have goons arrested after games before and it hasn't been successful. Why? No jurisdiction on when it occurs on the ice. In the locker room is another matter.



[Edited by Joe Fan on 3rd August 2000]

[KC]

No one has accused NASCAR or the owners of Loudon Speedway of killing Irwin or somehow speeding along circumstances that could have gotten him killed. What NASCAR is guilty of operating a little too loose and fast. There is no excuse for a throttle ever getting hung on a race car and everone just shrugging their shoulders and saying "sh1t happens". In almost every other form of motorsport a throttle return device is mandatory. Even the 600cc mini-sprints that race at tiny Creek County Speedway in Tulsa OK are required to have a throttle return. In NASCAR, their lesser classes require a throttle return. Why is not in their premier division? Maybe Adam and Kenny would be alive today if they were, maybe not.

As far as the relative ability and manpower of the local constabulary to handle a situation has nothing to do with whether or not he should be notified. All he wanted to assure was that in an instance in the future, everyone understood that he must be kept in the loop. I cannot speak for the laws of New Hampshire, but in Oklahoma and Texas, there is an official that must preside over the announcement of death of anyone for any reason. In Texas, the local Justice of the Peace can pronounce a person dead after consulting with attending physicians or EMTs. It is decided then whether or not if the police should pursue a line of criminal questioning as to what may have happened. The counties and cities in Oklahoma have a Coroner on staff to handle the same duties. They are responsible and can be held over for criminal charges if they do not discharge the duties of their offices correctly. It is very serious business when someone dies, for any reason.

When Greg Moore was killed, the race track did not have a plan in effect to handle the situation, but CART did. The local constabulary were present and his car was immediately impounded by them. It was covered where it crashed and a guard was placed over it and no one was allowed to approach it until after the investigaotrs looked it over. Then it was released to CART for inspection and then finally returned to Team Forsythe. As long as NASCAR has been in operation, they should have had some plan in effect for this eventuality. But, as of now, they do and that is good.

The local Sheriff is just trying to cover his ass on this deal. As it is, NASCAR and Loudon did not do a very good job of covering theirs.