8 Car Accident at the 'Ring - Yesterday

[4packet]

This shows prior to the incident the lack of warning drivers had of the repair work. A BPU Supra is doing at least 120mph at the point you can seen the sign whilst cornering and about to go over a crest. Factor in the queue of cars over the crest and it was only a matter of time.

 

 

Apparently the warning board was flashing this area up, but as a driver I've never seen it. It is not in your line of vision as you drive onto the track. The professional driver obviously didn't spot it anyway.

[Josh]

This shows prior to the incident the lack of warning drivers had of the repair work. A BPU Supra is doing at least 120mph at the point you can seen the sign whilst cornering and about to go over a crest. Factor in the queue of cars over the crest and it was only a matter of time.

 

 

Apparently the warning board was flashing this area up, but as a driver I've never seen it. It is not in your line of vision as you drive onto the track. The professional driver obviously didn't spot it anyway.

 

Wow, that's really bad! I can imagine how they couldn't stop in time.

[4packet]

OK, so whose fault is it when things go wrong?

 

People seem to be blaming the track, but people go there and drive like that, knowing there will be others driving like that too, of their own free will. It's no different to skiing, ice skating or any other sport where anyone can attend at any level.

 

So everyone going on about how the 'Ring should have better 'elf and safety - what's the solution? Speed limits? Independant car and bike sessions? Less people on the track at a time? Mandatory race licences? Compulsory supervision?

 

How much are you willing to pay for these measures? The track certainly can't afford to implement them and laps aren't exactly cheap now.

 

I say leave this how they are and let Darwin's theory run its course. The 'Ring TF days and the un-restricted Autobahns are some of the last great freedoms in this world and IMHO they should stay exactly as they are

 

I agree with Darwin and avoiding a nanny state completely, but in this instance Darwin was a professional driver and smashed the heck out of your shiny Corvette. The Corvette appears to have done everything correctly, but still got punished. I think the issue is, when these activities become overly crowded, you are no longer entirely responsible for your own destiny. If you are in a situation where somebody else can cause harm to you then the man collecting the money at the gate has a duty of care.

 

With regards to what the Ring can afford; the cost of the ticket has gone up (especially when you include the car park diner scam) and the number of paying punters has risen dramatically over the last few years. It's no secret that the GP circuit complex is operating at a vast loss and the Nordshleife is being squeezed dry to pay for it. There is a lot of bitter feeling in the local area about how Ring management is monopolising all the local supporting industries. RSR had to go to court over it and Sabine hates the Ring Taxi due to the new management.

 

The worry is that if the trend for accidents and fatalities continues it’s hard to see how the TF days can continue. I just wish the organisers would better protect their asset.

[CanisLupus]

OK, so whose fault is it when things go wrong?

 

People seem to be blaming the track, but people go there and drive like that, knowing there will be others driving like that too, of their own free will. It's no different to skiing, ice skating or any other sport where anyone can attend at any level.

 

So everyone going on about how the 'Ring should have better 'elf and safety - what's the solution? Speed limits? Independant car and bike sessions? Less people on the track at a time? Mandatory race licences? Compulsory supervision?

 

How much are you willing to pay for these measures? The track certainly can't afford to implement them and laps aren't exactly cheap now.

 

I say leave this how they are and let Darwin's theory run its course. The 'Ring TF days and the un-restricted Autobahns are some of the last great freedoms in this world and IMHO they should stay exactly as they are

 

I am completely with you on this subject. You can't blame the track for your own stupidity and if it should happen some day that i crash i exactly know who to blame.

 

But in the case of this accident with the 8 cars it's the responsibility not on the drivers but on the workers who did not set up a correct warning. When you take a look on the video 4packet posted there are NO signs at all until the hanger with the lights appears behind a crest and in a blind corner. No wonder there was a crash. So i can fully understand why the ring taxi and the others went one in another. Truth is i'm astonished it's not 20 cars but only 8...

[AJI]

I say leave this how they are and let Darwin's theory run its course. The 'Ring TF days and the un-restricted Autobahns are some of the last great freedoms in this world and IMHO they should stay exactly as they are

 

This is pretty much how I see it, as per my previous post.

But the thing that is worries me are the number of vehicles on track at any one time. From the vid linked in 4packet's post you can see how in the event of a large number of cars having to queue past some road works and the fact this queue could over time can back up traffic to an unsafe point on the track, whereby drivers are entering at a speed that is in excess of their visual stopping distance. Resulting in some huge accidents.

The majority of the fault should always be on the shoulders of the driver that chooses to drive beyond their visual stopping distance, but there should also be some better positioning of advanced signing if the track is live and works are being done on it.

The positioning of the first sign in the vids posted so far seems to have had little thought put in to it.

[Dan_Q]

ouch, nasty. that white porker looks like a 964 to me.