Spectator injured in road race

Fyr.Fytr

Spectator injured in road race
Saturday, 5 July 2008 22:01
A spectator in his 70s has been taken to hospital following an accident at the Skerries 100 road motorcycle race in north Co Dublin.

Three motorcycles were involved in the crash which happened between the Dublin Road and Baldungan shortly before 5pm this evening.

Two of the motorcyclists received minor injuries.

Feul from the petrol tank of one of the motorbikes involved caught fire and injured the spectator. He has been taken to Beaumont Hospital for treatment.

The accident happened during the last race of the road race series, which is held annually in Skerries.

Fyr.Fytr

I was there and on scene, cannot comment, rules are we can only discuss whats in the public domain anything else comes from HQ

Scene was a mess.

Time to ban road racing?? Discuss please

Odysseus

Banning would be a bit of a knee-jerk reaction imo. There is always a risk involved in things like this. Not everything can be forseen. Now if the accident occurred as a result of bad planning on behalf of the organisers, that is a different matter.

However, in that case it is a still not a case for banning, or if so the only type of ban would relate to the organisers running events. Why is it when things like this happen the topic of banning events always comes up. I Hope the riders and the spectator recover fully. I don't follow thes things but wasn't their a similar reaction up North lately when some spectators where killed at a rally event, the local priest called for a ban, the family stated the opposite.

To be fair we still don't have the full details, you can't coment further and until we know the facts of what caused the crash and more importantly how come a spectator was injured we need to stand back a bit and get the full facts. That's my thoughts on the matter in anyway.

Fyr.Fytr

See thats the thing i know the facts but until they're in the public domain i cannot comment further, a pain i know.

But simple things like crowd safety, a few bags of hay and a builders fence will not protect rider or spectator.

The fence will be a missile another object flying through the air to hurt someone

Hay bales, well they're not much good eighter.


The fact expereinced track racers say its utter madness to race on normal public roads, not designed for racing with little to no crowd protection measures in my opinion is utter madness.

The organisers do what they can and do a great job at it dont get me wrong but i still think more can be done to prevent further injurys and deaths.

Look at the fatality stats over the last 2-4 years, even the past few months its shocking

Odysseus

Don't want to seem overly picky but who are ther experienced riders you are quoting?

I would be interested in seeing how the safety their would measure against other events, for example that car race they have down the Phoneix Park each year, sound like similar precautions from what you say. I don't think we have other road rally events down here, they seem to be popular up North.

Now saying there is more that can be done to prevent injuries is different to banning a event completely. What do you think could done to prevent this happening again? What are the fatalities over the last 2-4 years?

As I said not being picky but personally I think you take an informed risk when you go to events like this. I dislike the idea of people taking the option of an informed risk away from me, and if you disagree with the idea of the spectator making such a decision the riders certainly do. Even though I spend a lot of time on bikes I don't attend such events, but I do like to engage in sports that have a certain amount of risk.

MrDylan

Fyr, what do mean by HQ?,

Garda, Fire?

Agree there's risk in all sports, you don't stop people playing rugby or boxing because of a single incident but you do look at ways of minimising the risk.

Hopefully the chap will come through ok.

dredre

Fyr.Fytr wrote: »

See thats the thing i know the facts but until they're in the public domain i cannot comment further, a pain i know.

how do you know the facts? did you see it happen? i think not.

Fyr.Fytr

I was part of the medical teams on site, thats how.

I was a bit short and harsh last night, adrenaline still going and still coming to terms with the incident so was acting a bit different to normal

But i still believe its too dangerous, look at martin finnegan, robert dunlop, darren lindsey aswell as marshals and spectators killed and seriously injured recently

No point bringing them to A&E, to a shrink is more apt

Odysseus

Fyr.Fytr wrote: »

I was part of the medical teams on site, thats how.

I was a bit short and harsh last night, adrenaline still going and still coming to terms with the incident so was acting a bit different to normal

But i still believe its too dangerous, look at martin finnegan, robert dunlop, darren lindsey aswell as marshals and spectators killed and seriously injured recently

No point bringing them to A&E, to a shrink is more apt

So should we ban all sports that carry the risk of injury. There is a theard with similar opinion in the MA/SD forum at the moment. One opinion is that events such as ultra running and skydiving are reckless, its an opinion but they are both sports that I currently/have partaken of. I'm a psychoanalyst and I can tell you I don't have anymore mental health issues than the next person.

I actually dislike the last comment, its an opinion and your entitled to it but can you back it up on any mental health qualifaction. It's derogatory to the riders you mention as well as anybody who participates in the so called exterme sports, most of the people I have met at events are well balanced. If you start to look at everything from that side of things nobody alive will escape without a diagnosis from the ICD-10.

As for the after effects of the above incident, maybe you should get back to the organisation you were there with about having some form of critical incident debriefing service available for those who encountered a traumatic events. Its now magic bullet but I used to be part of one for the HSE, I am presuming you were there are part of a voluntary body. You would be suprised at the effect that something like that can effect you. Its a very common service in th US and I think that DFB have a similar service for staff. Actually on that note I must enquire if the CD have such a service I doubt it, but it would be interesting to know.

dredre

Fyr.Fytr wrote: »

I was part of the medical teams on site, thats how.

that doesn't answer the question. did you see what happened? if not, you don't know the facts and are just stirring.

I agree with the last poster too, your other comments are in poor taste.

Paulzx

I personally wouldn't have the balls to road race but that doesn't mean you ban it just because its dangerous. If that was the case half the recreational activities we partake in would be banned on the grounds of being risky.

civdef

Odysseus wrote: »

Actually on that note I must enquire if the CD have such a service I doubt it, but it would be interesting to know.

They do - it's one of the things new members are supposed to be made aware of.

Odysseus

civdef wrote: »

They do - it's one of the things new members are supposed to be made aware of.

Cheers, I'm glad to hear that, but no I was made aware of it when I joined last year. I must enquire further about that since that I'm already trained up in that area.

Fyr.Fytr

CISD is tonight as far as im aware

As for the shrink comment, nothing by it just a bit of humor

Just my opininon, but ive worked at many sports events and have little or no injurys, yet every time i do road racing there is something and its normally quite serious.

Anyone any suggestions on how we make it safer, since your against banning it?

Elessar

Have it on a goddamn race track instead of a road. Mondello comes to mind.

It's not the sport per se that is dangerous its where it is held. Pro race tracks are much safer when something goes wrong than a public road in north dublin.

I was there, the incident was not pretty.

Odysseus

But in that case did you not make an informed decision that even being spectator carries certain risks in certain conditions. I am not a follower of this sport, so forgive me if I'm missing something. As noted above alot of sports carry a certain risk to the person involved but this is different as it also involves a spectator, which is unusal. Any news on the injuried parties?

MrDylan

Fyr.Fytr wrote: »

I was part of the medical teams on site, thats how.

I was a bit short and harsh last night, adrenaline still going and still coming to terms with the incident so was acting a bit different to normal

But i still believe its too dangerous, look at martin finnegan, robert dunlop, darren lindsey aswell as marshals and spectators killed and seriously injured recently

No point bringing them to A&E, to a shrink is more apt

What was the Medical/ Fire Team set up? Pro or Vols?

As for the shrink comment.. strange sense of humour!

Elessar

Odysseus wrote: »

But in that case did you not make an informed decision that even being spectator carries certain risks in certain conditions. I am not a follower of this sport, so forgive me if I'm missing something. As noted above alot of sports carry a certain risk to the person involved but this is different as it also involves a spectator, which is unusal. Any news on the injuried parties?

I guess to answer your question yes, there are risks involved being a spectator in a road race, as you are closer to the track and at more risk. If I had my way, there would be no road races at all, everything would be on a pro track.

FYI I was a member of the medical team not a spectator.

There were quite a few injuries, some minor, some not. The condition of the man who was engulfed in flames is available via the news. Obviously I cannot comment any further.

Spectators should not have to make informed decisions - safety should not even have to be considered for them in relation to the race - all high speed races should be on a pro track with gravel, barriers etc and the spectators well away from the track.

Elessar

MrDylan wrote: »

What was the Medical/ Fire Team set up? Pro or Vols?

As for the shrink comment.. strange sense of humour!

Medical was mostly vols, some pro. Trauma doctors/paramedics present aswell.

Fire team I cant comment on.

Odysseus

I wonder what majority of spectators would say. From the pic on rte's webpage I would say that you are making an informed choice if you choose to watch a race from there. I would also be interested in hearing the injuried parties viewpoint, I would be careful of falling into the trap of trying to protect people from themselves. It a pity the old boys is in such a serious state, it will be hard at that age to make a full recovery I guess. I would imagine though that there will be alot of calls in the following days for it to be banned.

Fyr.Fytr

CD were the fire team for the paddock

Vols provided ambualnces

MCI medical team consisting of docs, nurses and paramedics completed the medical team

Mr Magnolia

It's only a matter of time before road-racing is finished in Ireland.

I've been to many road-races, all a few years back. I never considered the fact that I was putting myself at risk, that was ignorant on my part but, when you're young and stupid...
Does everyone that attends the race consider that fact, certainly not.

I have friends who track-race and I know people who road-race. They would all agree it's insane with the track-racers agreeing that road-racing should be banned.

It's about 2 things as far as I can see: the risk to the rider and the risk to the public.

As for the poor chap that was injured yesterday, I hope it all works out for the best. From what I heard from people at the race, he sustained horrific injuries.

copeyhagen

3 of my friends were there right beside it when it happened, one of them had to go to hospital for stitches.

im not gonna go into detail of what they seen for respect for the man and his family but they said it was soemthing no one should ever have to witness, especially his poor son and grandson.

Fyr.Fytr

copeyhagen wrote: »

3 of my friends were there right beside it when it happened, one of them had to go to hospital for stitches.

im not gonna go into detail of what they seen for respect for the man and his family but they said it was soemthing no one should ever have to witness, especially his poor son and grandson.

Yes I second that

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

It's only a matter of time before road-racing is finished in Ireland.

I've been to many road-races, all a few years back. I never considered the fact that I was putting myself at risk, that was ignorant on my part but, when you're young and stupid...
Does everyone that attends the race consider that fact, certainly not.

I have friends who track-race and I know people who road-race. They would all agree it's insane with the track-racers agreeing that road-racing should be banned.

It's about 2 things as far as I can see: the risk to the rider and the risk to the public.

As for the poor chap that was injured yesterday, I hope it all works out for the best. From what I heard from people at the race, he sustained horrific injuries.

Couldnt have put it better myself