Should the driver face charges?

[invisibledemon]

8 dead, 12 hurt at off-road race in Calif. desert - Yahoo! News

Me personally, i dont think he should.
this was a race. a very harsh race on the cars and their parts. 50 miles of rough terrain and jumps just begs for broken suspension and steering parts.

But, i know that they are probably going to sentence this guy with murder or manslaughter even though he has no responsibility for there not being any barricades or any kind of separation between the track and the spectators.

They talked about a wreck that happened in TN in 2007 that i remember clearly (wasnt there, remember the news)

In Selmer, Tennessee, a dragster went out of control and smashed into spectators during a fundraising festival in June 2007, killing six people and injuring 22. Driver Troy Critchley, 38, was convicted of misdemeanor reckless assault charges and sentenced to 18 months probation.

literally, they had dragsters (actual pro circuit drag cars, not modded street cars) going down the street at full throttle, and the crowds were standing at the side of the road. nothing separating them, nothing keeping them off the street or the car on.

why is the driver responsible for the city not putting up barricades?
these are extreme motor sports in which things go very wrong very often.

This poor guy had to actually flee in fear of his life because of the spectators. And now, he'll probably be arrested and charged, all because the coordinators deemed it unnecessary to put up barricades.
Or, hell, these people could have been standing where they werent supposed to, we all know how the media love leaving shit like that out.

 

[TurboMirage]

thats fucking bullshit. he should NOT be charged. its a sanctioned event. this happens ALL THE TIME at rally events. nobody ever gets charged.

 

[K2e2vin]

I'm honestly not surprised this doesn't happen more often, and more surprised the crowd was surprised it happened. I recall in the Baja races some of the residents would actually build "traps" to make the cars wreck; and they were still close to the track.

 

[lostsoulzprophet]

he should not be charged. if the people are dumb enough to stand next to the track at a non barricaded part in a race that people are almost guaranteed to wreck. they get what they had coming. not saying it is right for people to go out like that but the driver should not be held responsible for the spectators stupidity. yes i know i need to learn my punctuation.

 

[phyregod]

Pity, this had better get out of the spotlight quick, before they mandate barricades and spectator areas for off road races. That'll kill off half of the venues at minimum.

 

[Drake]

There are dangers in every spectator sport. From baseball to soccer. Well maybe not Chess or water polo but you know what I mean. There is an assumed risk when you are standing on the side of the road with an off road truck doing 50 or 60 miles an hour off of a jump three feet from where you are standing. I feel bad for the families of those who where injured and or died but these things happen with auto sports.

 

[UNDR8D]

Ya...just look up rally crash on youtube. People get clipped and owned all the time.

 

[Briansol]

I think this is BS. at any event, you are at risk. Even at a zoo or an amusement park, you can easily lose your life. If anyone shoul dbe sued, it should be the track/promoter, not the driver.

 

[phyregod]

Sue the people for damages to the car as well as the psychological hardship of killing all those people? That would be awesome. And wrong, but given the US's legal system, its totally possible.

 

[invisibledemon]

its been updated that he isnt facing charges yet.

but, read it again, new interviews and shit.

we'll see how many lawsuits are directed his way though.

 

[ImportConvert]

Thats like when people get all sketchy when you cut them off and make them check-up in a race. I'm sorry Mister Blow-things-out-of-sorts, if you didn't leave me that 6ft gap I would not have had to divebomb you when we went into that corner.

 

[Briansol]

California Patrol: Driver in deadly race crash will not face charges - CNN.com

 

[K2e2vin]

"It's just very difficult to control the spectators," Webster told CNN. "You can give all the warnings you want, but at the end of the day, they're out there, they're on their own and they do what they want."

"It's not anybody's turn to baby-sit us. We're out there -- we understand the risk. Everybody that was there understood the risk -- the drivers, the spectators, everybody," said Carty.

F'n

 

[phyregod]

Fucking awesome.

 

[E_SolSi]