After listening to the comments on the finish line and timing slip
incidents, I thought I would put in my thoughts. I am the SFR Safety
Chief and I am ultimately responsible for course safety. However, safety
is everyone's problem. As a spectator, as a driver, as a course worker,
everyone is responsible for course safety. Unsafe events jeopardize our
sport and the health of the people at the event. When you put vehicles
on a parking lot and drive at speeds as high as 60 MPH anything can
happen. When you have challenging course pieces like the finish at
Oakland and you have inexperienced or over rambunctious competitors the
finish becomes an issue. We need these kind of course challenges and
need to deal with them to allow variety.
When I check out the course early in the morning, walking it several
times to look for safety issues, the part that almost always is
controversial is the finish. Everyone has an opinion. My opinion is
that the course designer should be able to do what he/she wants as long
as it is safe. The problem that we have at Oakland and Stockton is
finishing into the grid or the spectator area. People take whatever
space you give them at the finish. If we have a straight finish, the
competitors don't slow down. If we put in a kink they spin or go
sideways. It is a difficult situation to deal with. The real issue is
driver conduct at the finish. We all need to encourage drivers to do a
better job.
Like I said earlier, safety is everyone's responsibility so encourage
others to drive safely and conduct themselves in a safe manner. If you
want to be involved in course safety in a more assertive way become a
Solo II Safety Steward. See me at an event or email me for more
information.
Bryan Nemy
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