I hesitate to write this as I am new, know nothing and am
a Novice.... Did I just say the same thing 3 times???
So I hope that you do not take it wrong and tell me to get lost
or something. I really do like what took place Sunday and look forward
to spending many more with you.
But I did want to comment on some issues and ask for
others opinions as to whether some of these actions are the norm or if they
were oversights without sounding like I am standing on a soap box
or something. I apologize for it being so long.
Sunday was my first SFR SCCA event (as noted in an earlier posting)
but I had a few safety concerns or observations that I wanted
to discuss...
1) I got teched about 10:30 maybe not sure. But there was no one over there
just 3 or 4 vettes that had been abandoned. I was not even sure if I was
in
the right place as I expected someone to be there, or a sign or something.
Also, a minute later, another novice first timer parked behind me and we
asked each other if this was the place to get teched, neither of us knew
the answer.
A few minutes later 4 people showed up and did the tech.
It was quick. Maybe too quick? I was not assured that they
looked at enough stuff. For instance they did not jack it up.
They did not check for loose wheel bearings or for oil leaks.
And it was not obvious that they checked my tire tread.
They also missed some loose stuff in my ash tray ( a mini-super ball)
which I found before the run and removed.
Later I was surprised to see that cars with items hanging from the rear
view mirror
like Pepsi balls on a chain were passed by Tech. And then there was the
car
that had a stuck throttle during my work shift.
The only other tech I ever had for autox was at NASA but it seemed to be
more thorough. The tech was done on grid and was easier to locate and
required less
car movement/traffic.
2) I was surprised/shocked to see passengers running in the autox holding
video cameras, recording as the car was on course. I thought that only
fixed, properly mounted cameras would be allowed. When I was
doing my work shift I saw at lease 3 different cars with passengers doing
this.
Is this permitted?
3) I would have liked to have seen just a tad more spacing on the car starts.
I worked in station 1B or is it 1.5 by the pole. By the time I watched
the
car pass and then go up around the corner at 2 and then head back to 1
facing right at us and then spinning out in the sweeper another car would
already be started and headed for us again with my back to it. It would
have felt safer to have another few seconds so that the car was headed
away from me before I had to worry about another car headed toward me
from the start. I was the only one in this station for the first 10
minutes
of my shift at the end of group 7. Once some other workers showed up we
kind of took turns watching in both directions.
I also did not like the fact that I was a Novice and was stationed at 1.5
or 1 B or whatever you want to call it and I was by myself. The previous
3 people stationed there bolted as soon as I walked over from station 1
where we had 3 people already swapped out. I thought that they should
have
waited for other workers to show up.
Also at my station there was only a radio holder but no radio. So at the
end of
my shift, when the 8th group of cars started and 2 replacement workers
finally showed up I got them a third worker from station 1A, which had 4
workers,
and got them a replacement radio from the camper. I noticed at that
point that the camper did
a radio check with each station. We did not get one at the start of
group 7,
or maybe we did but since we did not have a radio so we did not hear it?
I guess it should have been made more clear that there were additional
work stations.
Both Station 1 and Station 2 had two work locations. Maybe the others
did as well but
it was not obvious to the workers (at least us new ones). I guess a few
more station signs
would help this problem.
4) I thought that the distance from the finish line to the stop sign and
results person was
too short. It would be nice to be able to go through the trap at speed
and not have to worry about
having to stop so quickly to avoid running over someone.
5) I noticed several cases when a worker was in harms way by the finish line
on the outside
of a turn trying to right a cone when the next car came by. There
should have been another station,
maybe close to the camper, on the correct side of the course. This
worker had to come from
some distance away and cross the line of traffic to right the cone. I
think there could have
been a safer way to do this.
6) I was not sure when to actually use the red flag. I know that if I see an
unsafe
situation that I should use it but I was unsure that if someone else was
using one should
everyone else also wave the read flag and stop everything or only the
section that was
having problems? I remember one case when there was a safety issue near
the
finish and no one was red flagging but the announcer said to and wanted
the following car to
be red flagged as well but none was given. Should we all have red flagged
to try to
get the cars attention?
7) I was impressed with the fact that they delayed the start of the first
group as a
result of a safety officer deciding that the big sweeper was too close
to one of the
poles (about 30 feet) and he had the course changed to give at least 50
feet distance to the
pole. There were several spinouts there during the runs, although I do
not think any got
close to the pole but its is always better to be on the safe side. This
was a good move.
8) On a lighter side....
Maybe we should have someone checkup on the use of legal
Coke and Pepsi stimulants by drivers to help promote a safer
environment.
Maybe we need a blood or pee test to check for presence of excessive
Coke or Pepsi
in the system! ;-)
Thanks everyone for making it a fun and safe day for all of us.
Please comment as appropriate but please do not beat me up to badly.
As I said I am a novice and just wanted to ask some questions and make some
observations,
partly to learn and partly to let you know what a first timer feels and sees
compared to the
more experienced auto crosser.
OK, let the bullets fly
-Stacey
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