The Isle of Man TT should be stopped... Now & Forever

LewTheShoe

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I will admit that I am drawn to the spectacle of Real Road Racing, epitomized by the IOM TT, like a moth is drawn to a flame. I have a good friend who has raced there, and I even provided partial sponsorship for one of his IOM TT efforts. Thank God my friend survived, his health intact. And thank God he will never race there again.

Despite the visceral appeal, this type of racing should be banned for the good of society. The carnage is too great and too gruesome to go on. The fatal consequences of the Snaefell Mountain Course, as well as most all the other Irish Real Road Racing courses, can never be ameliorated. And there are other alternatives available, closed circuit racing venues that offer all of the good parts of motorcycle racing, with only a tiny fraction of the bad parts. And there is this harsh reality: if you don't believe closed circuit racing offers the good parts, then you are attracted to the risk certainty of the bloodshed and fatalities of IOM racing.

Of course, there is the argument that these young men died doing something they loved, but I cannot abide such an argument. I'm not one to support the idea that all danger is bad, nor the idea that the single goal of life is to make it last longer even if blander. I have raced motorcycles on many dangerous tracks that failed to meet even the rudimentary safety standards that existed back in the 1970's and 1980's, much less the far better standards that exist today. It was all we had, and we did our best. I've dived on deep wrecks, and deep caves, and strong currents with no visibility. All I'm saying is, I don't believe in living in a cocoon.

However, the deaths and debilitating injuries roll on with a regularity that offends the sensibilities of a civilized society. At some point, society must step in and say, "No more." We are way beyond that point. This carnage must be stopped.

The Isle of Man mountain course holds just two race meetings per year. Just looking at modern times - 2000 to 2015 - riders died every year in that period except 2001. Riders died in 15 years out of 16, and the total was 52 riders killed. My God, averaging 3.25 dead souls per year. And that does not count the associated deaths of race marshals and spectators who sit unprotected at the edge of the tarmac. (If you want to look further back, since racing resumed after WWII, death has been avoided only twice, 1982 and 2001.)

Enough, I say. This insanity must be stopped, and channeled into responsible closed circuit racing.
 
I say leave it alone. There is only one Isle of Man, plenty of closed circuits.
 
I disagee. Nobody is forced to participate.
That is not sufficient justification. We can't just say, "Any activity is OK so long as the participants are not forced." There are limits to the activities a civilized society will organize and condone (and sell for a profit). The carnage of the IOM TT is beyond the limits, IMO. There are alternatives that offer dramatically less bloodshed.

I researched which is more deadly... racing at the IOM versus storming the beaches of Normandy at D-Day. If a rider contemplates racing the IOM TT for two to three years, his odds of surviving D-Day are the same as odds of surviving the racing.
 
That is not sufficient justification. We can't just say, "Any activity is OK so long as the participants are not forced." There are limits to the activities a civilized society will organize and condone (and sell for a profit). The carnage of the IOM TT is beyond the limits, IMO. There are alternatives that offer dramatically less bloodshed.

I researched which is more deadly... racing at the IOM versus storming the beaches of Normandy at D-Day. If a rider contemplates racing the IOM TT for two to three years, his odds of surviving D-Day are the same as odds of surviving the racing.

Please don't start a campaign to stop ANY form of racing. You're a race fan and that is treason, dammit. :p

Racing is dangerous, especially on two wheels. Is what it is.
 
I don't believe that anyone competing in IOM TT would ever want to see it go away.
How could they ever replace that feeling?
So it is good *because* it is so deadly, 3.25 times per year? I cannot buy that! That good feeling can be found elsewhere, on proper racing circuits.
 
That is not sufficient justification. We can't just say, "Any activity is OK so long as the participants are not forced." There are limits to the activities a civilized society will organize and condone (and sell for a profit). The carnage of the IOM TT is beyond the limits, IMO. There are alternatives that offer dramatically less bloodshed.

I researched which is more deadly... racing at the IOM versus storming the beaches of Normandy at D-Day. If a rider contemplates racing the IOM TT for two to three years, his odds of surviving D-Day are the same as odds of surviving the racing.

Well then we should ban a lot of recreational things.

Especially high performance motorcycles altogether. An individual only needs to travel the speed limit. And any one of them that can exceed interstate speed limits really is a detriment to a civilized society. Purely a way for one to pursue a death wish, or a pursuit to live in an injured dependant state.
Let's ban American football too.

What did you eat yesterday? Was it a menu of sugary narcotics? We just have to much self induced type 2 diabetics walking around. Many innocent children walking around with their candy bars and sodas. I think we should ban all of the sodas and snacks.

Let's reinstitute prohibition too, I have visited too many DUI graves and I have seen too many mothers cry.
Lets ban all sex that's not absolutely trying to reproduce, that's tough but the pursuit of recreational passion has ruined many.

Give me some collective counsels that know whats best for all, to reign in the renegades that don't know any better. Because a souless non-passionate existance is worth it all.

Last of all I dont want to you think the Isle of Man racing itself is a bigee to me. Honestly I had never heard of the place until I joined RF, and almost all of my motorcycle racing interest is in Motocross racing. If I had a kid wanting to race at the Isle of Man, I would absolutly be a nut case with worry. And I would be advising him or her to find a motorsports outlet with better odds of survival.

But at the end of the day, once they are an adult I would want society to allow them to choose for themselves. And I wouldn't be trying shut the race down even if I had a family member involved in the deadly pursuit.

People make a lot of questionable choices in life, but a life without some passion is the worst of the two conditions imo.
 
Well then we should ban a lot of recreational things.

Especially high performance motorcycles altogether. An individual only needs to travel the speed limit. And any one of them that can exceed interstate speed limits really is a detriment to a civilized society. Purely a way for one to pursue a death wish, or a pursuit to live in an injured dependant state.
Let's ban American football too.

What did you eat yesterday? Was it a menu of sugary narcotics? We just have to much self induced type 2 diabetics walking around. Many innocent children walking around with their candy bars and sodas. I think we should ban all of the sodas and snacks.

Let's reinstitute prohibition too, I have visited too many DUI graves and I have seen too many mothers cry.
Lets ban all sex that's not absolutely trying to reproduce, that's tough but the pursuit of recreational passion has ruined many.

Give me some collective counsels that know whats best for all, to reign in the renegades that don't know any better. Because a souless non-passionate existance is worth it all.

Last of all I dont want to you think the Isle of Man racing itself is a bigee to me. Honestly I had never heard of the place until I joined RF, and almost all of my motorcycle racing interest is in Motocross racing. If I had a kid wanting to race at the Isle of Man, I would absolutly be a nut case with worry. And I would be advising him or her to find a motorsports outlet with better odds of survival.

But at the end of the day, once they are an adult I would want society to allow them to choose for themselves. And I wouldn't be trying shut the race down even if I had a family member involved in the deadly pursuit.

People make a lot of questionable choices in life, but a life without some passion is the worst of the two conditions imo.
Well said. I agree that these decisions should be left up to the individual.

I choose not to watch motorcycle road racing (which I had also never heard of before joining this forum) and certain other things that I feel are unnecessarily dangerous, such as MMA and boxing. Other people are perfectly free to make the opposite choice.

Heck, if someone wanted to create and broadcast a voluntary, real-life version of the Hunger Games, and people were willingly lining up to participate in it, I'd certainly voice my opinion on how incredibly, unfathomably stupid and barbaric it would be, and I wouldn't watch it. I wouldn't try to stop those people from killing each other on national TV if that's what they truly wanted to do, though.
 
And it goes on and on...

Dwight Beare
1988-2016
R.I.P.
 
Paul Shoesmith
1966-2016
R.I.P.
 
The Baja 500 claimed 2 riders lives yesterday in large part due to the 125+ degree temperatures, a spectator died off the start too.


#destroythemotorcycles
 
There's a reason I've never owned a street bike..


That said, I was being facetious. Banning motorcycles from production to operating on the street would be absurd.
Oh I know I was making a sarcastic point to the whole argument of this thread, motorcycles are dangerous no matter where they are. But it doesn't mean we stop using them
 
To counter your point what about the guy killed in I think it was Moto2 in Spain
What about him? What does the tragic death of Moto2 rider Luis Salom have to do with the Isle of Man? If your point is that all motor racing inherently has some degree of danger, well, we all know that and accept that. If your point is that IOM TT racing is like MotoGP racing, that is beyond absurd.

In my original post I summarized the key fatality stats for IOM racing... deaths every year but one since 2000, averaging 3.25 dead riders per year, at that one venue. And it's due to the obvious disregard for the consequences of racing on that circuit, lined with buildings, fence rows, trees, signposts, ditches, etc. Those things cannot be fixed. They can only be ignored, or stop racing there.

As stated in the OP, there are much safer ways to go about racing. I have not said every dangerous activity should be stopped. I have said quite the opposite of that. MotoGP has 18 races plus 6 organized tests per year. There are three classes, MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3. That is a lot of balls-out racing, and the safety record is pretty damn good. It has been 5 years since the last fatal accident, until Luis Salom's crash last Friday. Claiming that IOM racing is comparable to MotoGP is an insult to the intelligence of every person.
 
What about him? What does the tragic death of Moto2 rider Luis Salom have to do with the Isle of Man? If your point is that all motor racing inherently has some degree of danger, well, we all know that and accept that. If your point is that IOM TT racing is like MotoGP racing, that is beyond absurd.

In my original post I summarized the key fatality stats for IOM racing... deaths every year but one since 2000, averaging 3.25 dead riders per year, at that one venue. And it's due to the obvious disregard for the consequences of racing on that circuit, lined with buildings, fence rows, trees, signposts, ditches, etc. Those things cannot be fixed. They can only be ignored, or stop racing there.

As stated in the OP, there are much safer ways to go about racing. I have not said every dangerous activity should be stopped. I have said quite the opposite of that. MotoGP has 18 races plus 6 organized tests per year. There are three classes, MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3. That is a lot of balls-out racing, and the safety record is pretty damn good. It has been 5 years since the last fatal accident, until Luis Salom's crash last Friday. Claiming that IOM racing is comparable to MotoGP is an insult to the intelligence of every person.
My point was you said circuit racing be safer
 
The Baja 500 claimed 2 riders lives yesterday in large part due to the 125+ degree temperatures, a spectator died off the start too.
I'm very sorry to hear that. Thanks for posting the info.
 
What about him? What does the tragic death of Moto2 rider Luis Salom have to do with the Isle of Man? If your point is that all motor racing inherently has some degree of danger, well, we all know that and accept that. If your point is that IOM TT racing is like MotoGP racing, that is beyond absurd.

In my original post I summarized the key fatality stats for IOM racing... deaths every year but one since 2000, averaging 3.25 dead riders per year, at that one venue. And it's due to the obvious disregard for the consequences of racing on that circuit, lined with buildings, fence rows, trees, signposts, ditches, etc. Those things cannot be fixed. They can only be ignored, or stop racing there.

As stated in the OP, there are much safer ways to go about racing. I have not said every dangerous activity should be stopped. I have said quite the opposite of that. MotoGP has 18 races plus 6 organized tests per year. There are three classes, MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3. That is a lot of balls-out racing, and the safety record is pretty damn good. It has been 5 years since the last fatal accident, until Luis Salom's crash last Friday. Claiming that IOM racing is comparable to MotoGP is an insult to the intelligence of every person.
IMHO, motorcycle road racing is absolutely more dangerous than MotoGP - easily one of the most dangerous motorsports around - but MotoGP is still pretty darn dangerous in its own right. I'm honestly amazed that those guys don't get killed more often doing that stuff, going that fast with their heads inches from the ground (and other bikes sometimes) in the turns and their bodies completely exposed.
 
Ian Bell
1957-2016
R.I.P.
 
Andrew Soar
1983-2016
R.I.P.
 
That is not sufficient justification. We can't just say, "Any activity is OK so long as the participants are not forced." There are limits to the activities a civilized society will organize and condone (and sell for a profit). The carnage of the IOM TT is beyond the limits, IMO. There are alternatives that offer dramatically less bloodshed.

I researched which is more deadly... racing at the IOM versus storming the beaches of Normandy at D-Day. If a rider contemplates racing the IOM TT for two to three years, his odds of surviving D-Day are the same as odds of surviving the racing.
It is unfair for one group of people to say "I don't think it should be this way" and ruin it for everyone
just like hawg dawg said
 
I'm bumping this thread, and I hope any who have not seen it will at least skim the original post. Mr. E actually suggested I renew the topic. He may not have been serious, but it still was a good idea. Since I posted it a year ago, five more riders have died in five separate accidents on the Isle of Man, including four in the TT and one in the prelude to the main event.

The Isle of Man TT is a perpetual killing machine. Since 2000, an average of 3.4 racers die there every year. Since the TT resumed after World War II, 71 years ago, death has been avoided only twice, 1982 and 2001. And there are much safer alternatives available, closed circuit racing venues that offer all of the good parts of motorcycle racing, with only a tiny fraction of the bad parts.

In another thread about the Indy 500, I asked the question, "Can you imagine the Indy 500 continuing on as always if 57 racers had been killed there since 2000? No, I can't either, but that is what is happening on the Isle of Man."

There are limits to the activities a civilized society will organize and condone (and sell for a profit). I believe the Isle of Man TT is well beyond those limits. It should be stopped now and forever.
 
WTF are you talking about? I never suggested you renew the topic.It's the greatest and most challenging race on the planet. Don't like it, don't watch it, simple as that. If you want it stopped maybe you should book a plane ticket to the IOM and demonstrate but I'm guessing that wouldn't go over well with the riders and fans.By the way, 5 days to go.:D

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Just copy and paste what I said last year.
 
@Mr Excitement ...... hey man .............I am having difficulty finding the TT on Direct TV this year ....... its always been on in the past. Any idea whats up or what channel ?


I found a highlight show on 281 (velocity) next month but thats all so far :(
 
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@Mr Excitement ...... hey man .............I am having difficulty finding the TT on Direct TV this year ....... its always been on in the past. Any idea whats up or what channel ?


Shoot me a pm and I'll let you know how you can watch a whole lot more online.That being said it looks like Velocity is going to have 3 highlight shows starting on 6/3.
 
Pretty upsetting .... I watched the whole deal last year :(

thanks for responding

It's no different from last year. Same day coverage highlights on Velocity starts on 6/3 with the Superbike race and all the races in-between till 6/10 for the sidecar and Senior TT race.
 
It's no different from last year. Same day coverage highlights on Velocity starts on 6/3 with the Superbike race and all the races in-between till 6/10 for the sidecar and Senior TT race.


I watched all the events last year ........ hours and hours of them
 
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