ax

[Gary Burch]

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a44568188/two-dead-scca-autocrash-crash-washington/

[sf.in.sd]

Thanks for posting Gary! I saw that and was going to bring up as a safety reminder at the next drivers meeting... hopefully there will be one soon!

[ttweed]

Apparently, this was a medical emergency-- a heart attack that caused a driver to run past the finish? This was in the comments section, not the reporting of the incident.

TT

[Gary Burch]

so,
what to do...
brake failure, throttle sticking
for instructors
driver freezing, incapacitated
what to do?

[jbrennen]

Lots of additional info in the comments section here:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/news/ ... d-prosolo/

The driver's brother confirms there that it was apparently a "heart attack" -- although I'm guessing it was actually cardiac arrest.

It sounds like the compounding factor here was that a participant who was in or near the portable latrines was struck. I wouldn't be surprised if some organizations start to look a lot more closely at putting protection between a hot track and areas like latrines or food service, where people generally let their guard down a bit. 200 feet of separation might sound nice, but it's really no separation at all if the driver is incapacitated.

[mtcurran]

Gary,
You ask an important question (without a question mark) "what to do..." This should be discussed more often amongst our AX, DE, TT instructors. What does an instructor do from the passenger seat if the driver suddenly becomes incapacitated or unconscious? If the instructor is strapped in a 5/6 point harness, it is highly unlikely he or she will be able to reach the ignition to shut down the car. Throw the shifter in to neutral and grab the steering wheel. Possibly reach the brake pedal with the left foot. Other thoughts and suggestions? I will bring this subject up at our future DE/ TT instructor meetings and discuss the matter with CDIs before our next event at Big Willow in September. Planting the seed and reminding instructors of the possibility the morning of an event may help their reaction time should this occur. Every spit second saved is critical.
Kind regards,
Mark