Skip,
I'm just trying to explain what I have been told is our thinking in response
to your concerns.
As I mentioned ... the wire is on the left side of the course for the total
3.04 mile distance of the time traps. We avoid driving over it whenever
possible
At the critical spot on the course the safety crews are at the most 1,000
feet from the vehicle as it is moving. Perhaps 12 seconds away at the most.
They are moving too. The turn to the left signals a problem and alerts
everyone.
Normal turns, and there are many more of them, to the right do not go over
the wire and require a more routine response. There is a trade off ... more
runs with intact wire and no missed times or a few seconds in response to an
undetermined spot. I maintain that the difference is so minimal that it is
hard to quantify.
Safety equipment on the left (mountain) side of the course would be at the
most maybe five to ten seconds closer and they would be running across the
course around 120 times to meet the conclusion of normal runs, they would be
crossing the wires constantly and they would be crossing the dragged and
marked course, thereby delaying the course clearance required for the next
car to be sent.
In the great majority of problems the safety people are there by the time
the car stops moving. When they are not, the vehicle is so far from normal
targeted stopping areas that you can't outguess the problem. Like the time
Gary went over in front of the pits. All you can do is what we do, drive
toward a spot or the moving car. When a car loses a chute they are
obviously tipped off and start moving immediately. Not much more you can do
unless you put up a big catch net and have everyone go there ... and if
there is a problem as we saw the year the net was up, most drivers would
miss that anyway because they are so busy with on board stopping procedures.
So my best answers to your questions are;
The real time response differential is so small as to be almost not a
factor.
The great preponderance of normal responses are on the right side of the
course. We need someone there just in case of things like unnoticed alcohol
fires, oil fires, that kind of problem.
The wire is on the left and we want to avoid that whenever possible.
The rare emergency exception is impossible to provide for without 3 or 4
more safety trucks.
With people on both sides of the course we can be aware of problems as they
are noticed.
Turning to the left is the best signal of problems ... the a-typical
position of the car triggers the response.
We probably can't do better than we do now until we eliminate the wire and
add other safety rovers at the far end. What we're doing now seems to work
extremely well.
The solution to your concerns would obviously be a 4th and 5th safety truck
... hard to come up with.
Wes
on 10/2/01 7:53 AM, Skip Higginbotham at saltrat@pro-blend.com wrote:
Wes, List:
I am NOT trying to stir up trouble! I expressed my displeasure with a
procedure, did not criticize anybody
and won't criticize anybody about this. Later I asked a question........
Just to belabor this a little bit more and to repeat my question which
remains unanswered amongst all the information provided......
I am quite aware of the procedure as, if you will remember, I spent a couple
of years with the extraction equipment and some fire equipment in my truck
at the 4 mile serving the racers and both associations as a course
worker/emergency vehicle.
My question still remains in my little mind if in nobody elses......If you
have the extraction equipment on the right side of the course, the Cold Fire
on the right side of the course, the ambulance on the right side of the
course and more fire extinguishing equipment on the right side of the course
down at the end, why in the world tell the racers to turn LEFT (AWAY FROM
SAFETY/RESCUE EQUIPMENT) when in trouble?
Logic? It seems to me that this scenario just puts the emergency another few
of tenths of a mile (or so) away from the emergency equipment and that means
more TIME for the equipment to arrive at the scene. A few seconds could be
important!
If asked to suggest another scenario, I would simply recommend that we just
move the safety crews/equipment to the left side of the course and the
course watchers to the right side so that the safety crews can get to a
problem faster because they are closer (on the same side of the course) when
the driver in trouble turns LEFT. Leave everything else alone! I would leave
positioning the safety folks at the far end of the course to their
discretion as, experience shows, there is no telling where a long course car
will end up if there is trouble.
Hey, I'm not trying to pick on anybody....especially NOT the folks that make
it safe and possible for us to race. Just voicing my opinion and asking a
question which is what this site is for????? Sometimes it doesn't seem like
it!
Skip
At 06:41 AM 10/2/01 -0700, you wrote:
>----------
>From: wspotter <wester6935@home.com>
>Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2001 06:40:56 -0700
>To: Higginbotham Land Speed Racing <saltrat@pro-blend.com>
>Subject: Re: Procedures-Drivers-Logic-
>
>Ski, List.
>
>At the top end of the course, about eight miles from the start there is a
>barrel marking the end of the smooth salt. At that point everything runs
>together, return road, course, everything funnels down to a small area.
>It's my understanding that Tom touched that barrel. My point is that the
>safety crews are already on the move toward the end of the course as the
>faster cars come down the track. Turning to either side at that point won't
>speed up the arrival of safety equipment by more than a few seconds. The
>course watchers have knives to cut safety harnesses and fire extinguishers
>as well as large crow bars to help with leverage for extraction if needed.
>They have to wait for the trained ambulance crew to extract a driver who is
>injured but they can do the basic things to prepare the scene for the
>arrival of those people. I'm just trying to help you understand the
>thinking and agonizing that goes into the placement of those people. Once
>the car turns to the right they relax some. If the car goes to the left
>they put on the speed, whether it is necessary or not it is a unique signal
>that there may be a problem.
>
>Tom was traveling at roughly 1/4 the maximum speed of the run when he had
>trouble. After traveling at the high speed the comment was made that he
>probably thought he was stopping at that speed. He was. I'm assuming he
>was on the brakes. The right people had him in their sight and were going
>toward him when he went over. It didn't matter which side of the course he
>was on at that point, there isn't much difference.
>
>If you were to propose another scenario, more on course, say at the three
>mile ... There are many shut-down's at that point by slower cars ... If one
>of them has a problem and turns left as requested, EVERYONE goes to them.
>If they turn to the right, there is one chase vehicle to meet them. Simple,
>obvious signal. It seems to work well. AND, THERE ISN'T A VEHICLE RUNNING
>OVER THE WIRES EVERY RUN. The way we do it, someone contacts every car
>after every run. That's why I added the word logic to the heading on this
>thread.
>
>Wes
>
>
>
>on 10/1/01 8:49 PM, Higginbotham Land Speed Racing at saltrat@pro-blend.com
>wrote:
>
>> Wes,
>> Tom turned right.......towards the rescue folks. He didn't turn left as he
>> was told to if he was in trouble. So, I guess that he didn't think that he
>> was in trouble?
>>
>> I guess that I have been misunderstood once again....I was under the
>> impression that the rescue gear was on the right side of the course at WOS
>> and that the course watchers have only fire extinguishers. That is the
>> source of my comment that the car in trouble should go towards the rescue
>> equipment.....as Tom did....inadvertantly or ???
>>
>> I certainly did not criticize the folks down the course.....why are you
>> acting like I did? I also do not recommend that cars turn left normally and
>> run over the timing wires.
>>
>> Again...why turn away from rescue gear if you are in trouble? Put the
>> rescue gear on the side of the course that you go to when in trouble! Then
>> you have an improvement to the rescue system.
>>
>> Geez
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