Racing and safety

The Race to the Clouds, as the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb is also called, was run three weeks ago. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned as a person crashed at the summit and tragically lost his life. This piece is written to draw attention (once more) to the dangers of racing and to the importance of having safety measures and plans in place before an accident occurs.

Photographer Trevor Andrusko, who took the picture on shown above, was stationed at the summit and witnessed the accident first-hand and the events that transpired afterwards. Instead of writing about what he saw I will direct you to the story he wrote himself. It is on the motorsports.com website and can be reached by clicking here.

Below follows an extract:
"I watched a man die on Sunday, at the summit of Pikes Peak. My eye withness account is not necessarily important, and I quite definitely do not wish to relive the incident that took place atop that mountain. However, I will recall, to the best of my ability, the series of events that took place that fateful morning."

There is danger to be found in most forms of motorsports. They vary in degree and whether one is an amateur or a professional, we all want to return to our loved ones. This should be clear to everyone. The point that I am trying to make here is that we, as competitors, have to look out for our own safety. Most often the race organizers do a fine job but occasionally, when it is obvious that certain conditions are not met, we have to raise a red flag and point out the problem to race officials. Obviously, for as far as I can tell, this did not happen here. I find it hard to believe that only Mr. Andrusko thought that there weren't enough safety equipment and personnel stationed around the track.

A couple of weeks ago, after a professional Funny Car driver competing in the NHRA Mello Yellow series made a pass on race Sunday, he stopped his car on the race track and proceeded to walk back to the starting line. Of course, this effectively stopped all racing activity. When he got to the starting area he explained his motive. It wasn't because of his arrogance or lack of respect for race organizers, as many had thought, but it was because of his appreciation of life and those of others that he stopped the race. He felt so strongly about the lack of grip of the racing surface, due to rain showers the previous night and the extreme heat at that day, that he had to do something about it. The race was postponed to the following day and he got fined for his actions. Who knows how that day might have ended had he not done what he did.

If you haven't already done so, please read the story by Mr. Andrusko. And don't forget that ultimately we are responsible for our own lives and those of others.

Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Mr. Bobby Goodin.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Motorsports.com
Photo credit: Trevor Andrusko