A sad day at the California 200

[Doris]

A sad day for our another form of beloved sport.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10978569

Dx

[wishy]

It is a real shame that this has happened to so many spectators,but you only have to watch any rally to see how close spectators get to the action,and at the end of the day motorsport can be dangerous......even for spectators!!!

And at night must be even more hazardous as you can only see the spotlights headind in you direction,which I guess is difficult to judge the position of the car coming at you.

[mgmark]

It's never good or pleasant whenever anything like this happens - my thoughts go out to all involved and their families/friends. 

It's not something anyone expects or wants, but the possibility of something like it happening was always one of my worst nightmares during the years when I was co-driving in off-road rallies, as you came round a corner or over a rise and saw what/who was where on the other side....  It's what led to the demise of Group B and (at least at most rally venues) much more restricted spectator viewing, but sealing off an entire course is nigh on impossible, particularly with the nature of this one.   

MG Mark 

[Boorish Grobian]

Agreed, very sad accident.  As said in the previous posts, its much easier to control spectator location & safety in a closed course setting, than at rally & off-road meetings.  On these type of events the spectators have to use some common sense, but that seems to go out the window on most occasions.  I was watching highlights of the Rally Finland last night and there were a couple of times were cars would go into violent, high speed tumbles and the spectators would literally be running at the car while its still rolling and shedding bits.
Fax

[Andy Zarse]

Agreed, very sad accident.  As said in the previous posts, its much easier to control spectator location & safety in a closed course setting, than at rally & off-road meetings.  On these type of events the spectators have to use some common sense, but that seems to go out the window on most occasions.  I was watching highlights of the Rally Finland last night and there were a couple of times were cars would go into violent, high speed tumbles and the spectators would literally be running at the car while its still rolling and shedding bits.
Fax

Sad but entirely avaoidable.

I worked as a Sector marshall on stages of the late RAC Rally in the Eighties in the Group B days. We put a lot of effort into spectator safety (anyone else remember the Wally posters?). Sadly the Portugese were less rigourous and a fatal spectator accident hastened the demise of Group B.