> If you lose it, it's your fault. Period. If you walked the course and
then
> subsequently hit something, it's your fault, period!
>
> Not anyone else's, just yours. You did it.
Well, it's not like the Hand of God comes down during a perfectly good run
and gives your car a friendly little *PING* that sends it spinning wildly
into the wall. :) If you spin, it's because of your mistake. I should
know, having spun more than once with the subsequent reaction of "you stupid
$%|^!" (referring to myself, of course) But here I go back into my ranting
about overrun areas. A course designer can't possibly account for every
possible mishap. As safe as Solo II is, it's not 100% safe. If it was we
wouldn't wear helmets or seat belts. But a designer with at least half a
brain (and that includes everyone reading this!) can look at a long
straightaway that ends abruptly in a hairpin turn placed 10 feet away from a
concrete wall and think to him/herself, "Somebody might hit that. Maybe
that's not such a good idea." It's a grey area. If there's a reasonable
chance that a corner might get blown due to driver error (or mechanical
failure, as someone pointed out to me), there should be a reasonably safe
buffer available to stop the car. It doesn't have to be a half mile worth
of runway where you can watch a Miata spin around like a top down the entire
length (though that would be fun to watch :) ) It's easy to design some
buffer zones into a course, and a designer should try to do so.
To answer the original question, if I'm hauling a$$ down the long
straightaway, go WAY too fast into the hairpin, and slam into the concrete
wall 10 feet away, the primary responsibility is mine for being such a
doofus. A maneuver like that would probably get me banned from future
events and generally make me very unpopular. However, the designer could
have ended the straightaway 50 feet sooner, lowering corner entry speed by
shortening the straight, and providing a safe overrun area for me to stop if
I blew the turn. Secondary responsibility (meaning to a significantly
lesser degree than the driver) goes to the designer.
"The preceding e-mail is the opinion of Justin Hughes, who is solely
responsible for its content." :)
- Justin
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