On Mon, 1 Nov 1999 14:43:25 +0100, "Markus Stiepel"
>What annoys me most about the horrible crash of Greg Moore ( besides the
>lame discussion about what has to be done about safety-standards here on
>R.A.S. *after* something has happened) is the fact that Greg was surely
>instantly dead after having hit the wall going in head first (proven by the
>fact that there was not much reanimation going on by the medics, normally,
>if there is a chance for a guy to survive, you would see much longer work on
>the scene going on than we were having in Fontana). There wasn't even the
>attemt to try to even out the infield after Richie Hearn stirred up the
>grass at the *exact* same place Greg ran over a few minutes later, you could
>see a crater between the asphalt-service-road dividing the infield-grass. I
>don't know whether they fixed it after Gregs crash because I switched off my
>TV due to disgust. Yet, CART-officials kept it secret to go on with the
>show, to continue with the big business, to sell some more hotdogs on the
>grandstands, instead of having the guts to say: "Sorry folks, show is over,
>go home, we have had a casualty, so we are aborting this event". Same thing
>happened when Senna died, it's simply disgusting and respectless. Why is
>NASCAR the most popular series in the US? Could it be that they have the
>most and the most *spectacular* accidents around? Don't tell me it's because
>there are so many close battles going on. Why do we see traffic-jams on the
>streets as soon as an accident has happened on the *other* side of the
>highway? Don't tell me it's because ppl are slowing down to see if they can
>be of any help. Why do windows open as soon as an ambulance comes roaring
>down the street where that window would never be opened cause it's too cold
>outside? Don't tell me it's to let fresh air in. This society is sick ....
>yeah, tell me to dig a hole and hop in ..... thank you very much.
>In deep sadness
Two distinct reasons: One, they may have wanted to make sure the
family was informed (as in the other post) and secondly only an
official Medical Examiner can pronounce a person dead. Stupid law but
that's the way it works. For instance, at a motorcycle accident where
I was a witness the guy was dead as a doornail, as in head severed
partially from body and brains coming out fo nose, eyeball, and a 9"
rip on the backside of his head (yes, was wearing a helmet but it was
torn from his head). They could not pronounce him dead on the scene
*UNLESS* one of the medics present also had Medical Examiner
credentials. As they don't they still had to attempt token revisions
until they got him to the hospital where he was of course prounced
dead as a doornail. By the same token police officers are not 'given
the knowledge or understanding to pronounce health upon a person' or
some line like that in which officers are also unable to prounounce
people as dead, even when they've stuffed 30 or 40 holes through their
noggin. As for the show, people die in the sport. It happens and it's
expected. Some people go only to see the accidents. It's a fact of
life much like those who would go to the Roman Games to watch
gladiator's tear each other assunder and then get munched on by Lions
(now *those* were the good old days!) It doesn't mean that when a
catastrophe happens that the rest of the people need to know they are
dead, especially when the audience IS used to seeing cars get totally
destroyed and the driver getting out and walking away. Ayrton Senna's
crash didn't even look bad but it was a freak accident that killed
him. The driver at Laguna Seca's accident looked rather mild save for
being tossed over the wall but he died nearly instantly and it STILL
took an ME's qualified hand on the wrist to pronounce him dead.
Would the race having been stopped at that point have accomplished
anything?
____________________
Try not to let your mind wander. It is too small to be out by itself!
