LewTheShoe
Seeking Skill-based Meritocracy... More HP Less DF
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2016
- Messages
- 4,618
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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 therisk 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.
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
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.
