Bill Fuhrmann wrote:
>However, even if it is very atypical of the particular part of
the SCCA (the
>club) involved, it is more than "somewhat outside the parameters
set by the
>SCCA rules". According to the descriptions from people who were
there and
>have not been contradicted by others, it seriously violated the
rules.
Based on the information presented so far, that would appear to
be the case.
I haven't participated in this thread because I don't believe
that after-the-fact accusations are ever helpful, regardless of
the actual circumstances. I've had one direct experience with a
flagrantly unsafe course, stood my ground as a safety steward and
forced a change (a change that most of the other competitors had
asked for, BTW), and paid dearly in the long run.
The event "safety steward," who had approved the course and
insisted that it was safe - it could easily have resulted in
decapitation of the driver of a formula car - had never turned a
wheel in competition of any kind. She was so insulted that I
would dare question her authority that she subsequently
instigated a number of false accusations against myself and our
region, to the point of writing anonymous letters to National and
other equally sick tactics. The final result was the loss of a
safety steward in a region in which there are often only one or
two individuals with SS licences and major public ugliness that
wound up involving personnel at the national level. The region
has not been the same since. So, you raise course safety issues
at your own risk, at least in the political sense.
Having said the above, I will do the same thing again in the
highly unlikely event that I encounter a course as unsafe as the
one in quesiton. Some things are worth the trouble, and event
safety definitely falls into that category, IMHO.
>People sometimes make mistakes. The attitude of the "powers
that be" in the
>club needs to be that they can recognize mistakes and also be
open to
>remedying them when they are either noticed by them or pointed
out to them.
As a course designer, I have often made changes at the suggestion
of others in the interest of safety, even when I did not agree
that the changes were necessary. When you get your ego so tied up
in a course design or your own petty fiefdom that you aren't
willing to listen to other viewpoints - a disease not unheard-of
in SCCA - you'll make the wrong choice every time.
Jay "been there, done that, would do it the same way again"
Mitchell
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