Safety Responsibility

[President Clinton]

With all the new safety mandates and the "series " finally caring so much about the drivers..........why do they not step up to the plate and mandate the tracks have a foam truck and qualified personnel for fires???? Or better yet hire their own "safety team" If I was concerned with the safety of my" drivers",""workers, fans or whom ever, I would probably take that step, not just have mandates in place to make myself look pro active. Lead by example!!!!!!!! Now y'all please feel free to argue!

[plunks7]

No need to argue on very honest Abe question.

[Bubstr]

There isn't much to argue about. Well trained, quick fire suppression saves lives. I would venture to guess that almost all the drivers that died in fires, where alive, when they started fighting that fire. They died on your watch. It should take seconds, not minutes to put out these fires.

[Nasty55]

With all the new safety mandates and the "series " finally caring so much about the drivers..........why do they not step up to the plate and mandate the tracks have a foam truck and qualified personnel for fires???? Or better yet hire their own "safety team" If I was concerned with the safety of my" drivers",""workers, fans or whom ever, I would probably take that step, not just have mandates in place to make myself look pro active. Lead by example!!!!!!!! Now y'all please feel free to argue!

Agree 100% Pres but i'm going to step one further with you on this and say that ontop of that safety issue as well they should Mandate that ALL racecars regardless of the class have a foam fire suppression system in them to save lives... Just my opinion though.. Safety should always be the first thought of any Sanctioning Body or promotor!

[ClampedUp]

First off an organization/corporation like Lucas Oil and WoO should NEVER put profit over the safety of the fans and drivers and they should demand the same from and require a track to have properly trained and proper emergency fire and medical equipment on site. If not they do not get a race.
That being said the fans and drivers need to quit supporting series and tracks that obviously put the almighty dollar in higher priority than fan and driver safety.

[latemodelman]

I know Eldora has a great fire team and all but Kudos to Waynesfield Raceway Park for a small dirt track they have a great safety team as well.

[Bubstr]

I believe most track safety crews could learn a lot from USN flight deck fire fighters. Both have fuel fires and personal to rescue. I have seen both in action and that is why I say fires should be out in seconds, not minutes.

[bb14]

I'm surprised no one has thought that the safety mandates were forced by the insurance companies!

It's all about money but not from the series profiting but from the series saving premiums. Everyone is smart enough to know that concussions were not a problem until the seats came along. I dont have a problem with fire suppression but that isn't fail safe. The new rules would not have prevented Dixon's fire. Only track trained safety crews could have assisted in preventing this accident from being as bad as it was. We are all very glad it wasn't worse and are glad he is coming back!

I have lost respect for the series and the people defending the rules since there are no series safety crews. This should be the number one safety protocol! One on each end of track.

I'm sure people will still defend the new rules and I agree with safety, but ultimately the safety rules are very weak if the series do not have the safety crews. If you mandate FIA safety then you should provide FIA safety!

I also agree that each track should have trained personnel onsite for every event.

[President Clinton]

I also feel it's a bit strange that all the " promoters " and series "spokesman " that frequent this sight have not voiced an opinion????? Yes the mandates should reduce insurance premiums, which is a good thing, but at least he honest and not use it as a publicity tool to make yourself appear caring?????? As in any aspect of life or business, lead by example. If you tell me your are concerned enough to mandate me to use safety tools, then be concerned enough to spend that $$$ you save by it back on me????????

[dirtfanbob]

I can assure you that these new rules are not anything related to insurance but the series trying to protect themselves from possible litigation. There are two main insurance companies that write insurance that covers race tracks and their requirements are minimal because racing is an ultra hazardous activity where the person assumes the risk, which means no lawsuits have made it to hold anyone accountable as of yet. But it takes one case and one jury or judge to change all of that and a different precedent is set where lawsuits could start, although doubtful. They should be concerned about the sh*tty track conditions and lack of track prep that a jury or judge could consider negligence and make the track AND series liable, because negligence is a whole other ballgame. This whole deal is nothing but a bandaid to a much, much bigger problem that they will not address because they are afraid they will piss off the track owners and have nowhere to race. Lucas even requires each crew's four wheeler to have a properly equipped fire extinguisher now. So I guess their proper "safety team" for their events are the crew members themselves and they hope everyone pitches in when needed. Safety is needed and should be addressed with the proper information and timeliness in making it mandatory, but you can not and should not pass the buck down to the lowest level if you're really an ethical organization. Take some responsibility yourself. But like they say, sh*t rolls downhill.

[Clayton_Wetter]

Racetracks are wanting to have races but are becoming a slave of safety overkill.

[Bubstr]

Racetracks are wanting to have races but are becoming a slave of safety overkill.

I don't think there is a track operator in the country that wouldn't try to save a life or even the painful burn therapy for some driver, when all it takes is some organization. Can you imagine being upside down in a burning car and all you have is some volunteers for free tickets to Friday nights race?

Quite a few years ago, I overheard a driver tell the safety crew, to never touch him or his car again. They had beer to watch the race, but no neck brace or back board. If there had been a fire, it would have been very awful.

[c1ty5tar]

I believe most track safety crews could learn a lot from USN flight deck fire fighters. Both have fuel fires and personal to rescue. I have seen both in action and that is why I say fires should be out in seconds, not minutes.

You are right on, but the thing is though everyone on the deck, and anywhere in the navy for that matter, has had a lot of training and drills for firefighting. The tracks need to learn that not just firefighters need training in how to fight fires and rescue situations. Experience is one of the most important things. You need to have practiced the situations in order to execute properly and quickly. I bet if you asked some volunteer firefighters to give some scenario training on firefighting and first aid to the track staff on a weekend for a few hours, you could get valuable experience for pretty cheap. Yes, you should still have properly qualified people in place, but the more people that know what to do the better.

[Clayton_Wetter]

I don't think there is a track operator in the country that wouldn't try to save a life or even the painful burn therapy for some driver, when all it takes is some organization. Can you imagine being upside down in a burning car and all you have is some volunteers for free tickets to Friday nights race?

Quite a few years ago, I overheard a driver tell the safety crew, to never touch him or his car again. They had beer to watch the race, but no neck brace or back board. If there had been a fire, it would have been very awful.

My meaning in this case is to slow the racing down as much as they can at some tracks intentionally.