Rally spectators

TeddyTedson

First off I'll admit I have no real knowledge about rally driving, I just watch a little bit of it from time to time if I see it on sky, usually after I left the TV on in the background after a match to be honest.
But I don't see why Rally spectators are allowed to stand so close to the dirt track.
Now I'm all for letting people take risks and I'm sure there's an unbelievable buzz for fans. (I actually would love to be a spectator myself at times so I can see both sides here) But why let these fans put their lives in danger. It seems quite irresponsible by the Rally governing body. Not to mention the poor driver that will have to live with killing a spectator.
I just don't see why it's allowed yet soccer matches are not allowed to have standing tickets?

I mean...WTF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUbPAvfHVIg

eth0

Better craic. Yea there is a tiny chance your last memory of this earth will be licking the radiator of a car that's after flying into you'd get over that

The King of Moo

Maybe because if they had to stand farther back you wouldn't see them on television broadcasts and it'd look like no-one was watching it.

Bechermann

They can't really stop ye from standing wherever you like since rallies are mostly held on public roads...it's up to you not to stand in a stupid place

Agricola

Rally fans like to smell the exhaust fumes, pick the gravel from out of their teeth and generally have a least one near death experience at least once a month.

Hippies!

Tommy's stone mad for speed

wendell borton

When you go to a rally you know its dangerous. What makes motorsport exciting is the danger, pushing man and machine to the limits.

admiralofthefleet

its the adrenallin rush. like when you just know by the spin of the ball that you are going to get a strike in blowling, its only halfway down the lane but you just know its going to be a strike

donvito99

[Mrs Doyle]

And rallying ... a loada men watching cars go round the countryside

[/Mrs Doyle]

recyclebin

All rallies have marshalls and they won't let you stand somewhere that is too dangerous. From time to time bad marshalling can get spectators killed. People will stand in stupid places so it's up to the rally organisers to make sure they are safe.

barney 20v

recyclebin wrote: »

All rallies have marshalls and they won't let you stand somewhere that is too dangerous. From time to time bad marshalling can get spectators killed. People will stand in stupid places so it's up to the rally organisers to make sure they are safe.

Bad marshalling gets people killed.........? How so? Is it not the ignorance of the people who insist on standing in harms
Way who are at fault?
All the marshals can do is to advise people of the safest place to specate from!
If idiots ignore these warnings there is little that individual marshals can do imho

Zab

I'm actually a little surprised that there aren't any ones that out-and-out would have killed somebody. Worst ones I noticed were at 40 seconds and 1 minute 30. Perhaps the guy filtered them.

I have often wondered why people would stand so close to the track though.

danniemcq

barney 20v wrote: »

Bad marshalling gets people killed.........? How so? Is it not the ignorance of the people who insist on standing in harms
Way who are at fault?
All the marshals can do is to advise people of the safest place to specate from!
If idiots ignore these warnings there is little that individual marshals can do imho

They can cancel the stage,

I used to marshal in Donegal and any spectators who wouldn't stand where we allowed were warned to move and if they didn't then the officials drove out, they were warned again and if they refused still then the stage was canceled.

They usually move though at the first threat or their mates grab them.

If a marshall lets a stage run they are at fault but idiots will be idiots and you cannot prepare for their stupidity.

Martyn1989

3.53 - sweet shorts

666irishguy

People are idiots. Organisers should be responsible as the first line of defence against accidents. Just look at the downfall of group B rallying in the 80's. Greatest rallying that was ever done and we might still have it today if had been organised a better.

bnt

It used to be a lot worse, with scenes like this in the 80s and 90s:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIJi0KIPN38

barney 20v

danniemcq wrote: »

They can cancel the stage,

I used to marshal in Donegal and any spectators who wouldn't stand where we allowed were warned to move and if they didn't then the officials drove out, they were warned again and if they refused still then the stage was canceled.

They usually move though at the first threat or their mates grab them.

If a marshall lets a stage run they are at fault but idiots will be idiots and you cannot prepare for their stupidity.

So what happens when people move after the stage goes live and the officals cars have passed? If you get 3/4 car loads of idiots turn up who dont listen to anyone it is very hard as a marshal to influence their behaviour . Sure we can hold out the flag to slow cars but then we can expect the wrath of the idiots who cause the issue in the first place.


I am a sector marshal and this yr so far i have worked at over a dozen events up and down the country, this year alone i have seen 2 serious accidents 1 of which i was the first responder after a driver collapsed post accident.
Thankfully he was ok and has recovered fully.


Unfortunately this year 2 people i knew well were killed in a rally incident in cavan, rallying in ireland today is some of the best organised and safest in all of europe, not hearsay- fact.
Just to put this into perspective, more peope die or are seriously injured each decade in equestrian sports than motorsport in this country.

Big Nasty

bnt wrote: »

It used to be a lot worse, with scenes like this in the 80s and 90s:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIJi0KIPN38

I love motorsports and have attended many events and done a couple of rally courses myself but fcuk me - if I was racing at that gig with hundreds of people both sides of the road on a jump with the possibility of landing in the ditch either side of the road and creaming 20+ people out of it in one go I would slow down to a crawl. :eek: