Violent and Dangerous Crashes: Is it time to Ban Motor Vehicle Racing (Nascar, Indy, etc)?

One thing I might add to the mix on this thread is this......
If you are not from the States and especially the Southern States you will have no idea of just how popular race car events are.

Europe has their Football and Rugby, Australia their Cricket, Canada their Hockey, etc etc etc

If you are lucky enough to travel to the southern USA do and I mean do check out some of the fantastic car tracks they have there.

These guys know how to drive and you will be amazed at their talent and love of the race.

This commercial ends in 3/2/1/seconds.

Just saying I have been there on a holiday from our home in Canada and yes I would sit in any stands and yes I would have a great time.

Regards, Iwinder

I think all highways and roads should have transmitters that cars pick up and limit the cars speed to the maximum speed for that road.
Then no one could speed.

They also could be connected to weather sensors so that if its pouring rain or snow the max speed would be lowered to a safe speed and the cars would not be able to go faster.

No more driving at 70 mph in a blinding rain or snow storms.

Originally posted by Iwinder

Originally posted by CranialSponge

Originally posted by Iwinder

Maybe bingo will make a come back? How can you hurt yourself playing bingo?

Are you kidding ?!

Those bingo dabbers can take an eye out if you're not careful.
And the ink in them ? Toxic !

"Your gonna dab your eye out kid"
Quote from a Christmas story, but change the dab to shoot...

Great post and Laughing hard here.

Regards, Iwinder

One of my all time favourite movies !

I made it a tradition that every Christmas we all have to gather around the tv and watch this movie whilst nibbling on Xmas goodies.

I can relate to his poor little brother where mom wraps him up so tight in his scarf and outfit... and then falls to the ground and can't get up. Ugh, memories of Canadian winters as a kid...

Do you remember the 15 foot scarfs our folks used to wrap around our heads a hundred times leaving us with just a tiny little slit to look out through ?

Hilarious !

Actually what this sport needs is less safety. That's right less safety.
Stop restrictor plate racing and these type accidents won't happen at Daytona.

And Go #24 Jeff Gordon

As long as things move people will race them. Last summer we were racing 25 ton houseboats. I don't know about the spectators but as a driver I can tell you that it is just a risk that you accept for the thrill of being on the track.== Fortunately I grew out of it but it was fun while it lasted.

Originally posted by schuyler
While recognizing the placement of your tongue, it seems to me that we are increasingly becoming a "risk averse" society that can tolerate nothing that might be harmful. We're becoming a nation of wusses with no courage, no curiosity, no capacity for tolerating the least pain. I believe this is a negative trend that will result in the further degradation of society. It's part of a long, downward spiral.

I am convinced that we will find one day that being "risk averse" is, itself, inherently dangerous.

We would never have evolved if we didn't have to face hardships, and if nature hadn't culled the least adaptive from the gene pool. Sadly, modern medicine and the social sciences have resulted in a reproductive populace that would never have existed as few as 100 years ago. We are our own worst enemy

reply to post by Iwinder


For your info,When I typed my reply there were no others.I would have been the first,but before hitting reply my phone rang and it sat there for awhile.I kinda forgot.Later I came back and sent the reply.As to the content of my reply,point taken.
I actually agree with you.Will try to do better in future.

You recommend banning Indy racing really. This must be a joke! You may want to check out MARS I hear they never have and never will have auto racing! While we are at it lets ban life and free will you know that is risky as hell! Auto racing has always had evolutions in safety and will continue too. The way I see it there are more important things to be concerned with like everything on ATS. Stopping wars seems more important than stopping auto racing that just a thought.

reply to post by Iwinder


Plenty of us Aussies are into motor sport Iwinder..Our season of V8 supercars starts this weekend with the Clipsal 500.. You bet I'm excited. I hope everyone gets through the year unscathed,but its a dangerous game.

I like to watch the roundy round races, the sound of the engines is calming and usually leads to a nice afternoon nap. I do catch the start and usually the finish.

That being said, The safety features of your family car are the results of making racing faster and safer. Crumple zones, seat belts, anti-lock brakes are racing tech.
The high performance suspensions and tires make the suspension and tires safer on your car.
Go fast tech in the engine also translates to fuel economy (more power for less fuel burned) and dependability.

Remember, NASCAR is a product of bootleggers racing their booze runner cars.

Maybe we should all be forced to watch it on TV so the only harm we face is obesity and heart disease.

I understand the OP's sentiment and I really do believe that all the 'can't do this, can't do that' business needs to calm down. In my opinion, if we choose to do something dangerous or go somewhere that might be dangerous, then we do so at our own risk.

We spend so much time and money telling people that they shouldn't eat too much fat, shouldn't smoke, shouldn't drive without a seatbelt, shouldn't climb ladders without someone holding on to the bottom, must wear goggles when using certain tools, must wear a helmet, can't work at height without a harness, mustn't touch that...burny (ok protecting kids that don't know any better is allowed) etc. that it has become an obsession.

If we were allowed to just get on with it, the stupid ones would end up dead and the sensible ones would stay safe! Darwin awards springs to mind. It should be survival of the fittest, natural selection and all that. Then we would end up wit a slightly smaller population where the majority know how to get through life without becoming obese, decapitated or paraplegic due to their own idiocy. So much tax wasted on fixing stupid people.

Originally posted by schuyler
While recognizing the placement of your tongue, it seems to me that we are increasingly becoming a "risk averse" society that can tolerate nothing that might be harmful. We're becoming a nation of wusses with no courage, no curiosity, no capacity for tolerating the least pain. I believe this is a negative trend that will result in the further degradation of society. It's part of a long, downward spiral.

When you wrote the above, were you referring to many places banning texting* while driving, or the ban on being drunk or high on drugs while driving or both? Just curious.

Don't answer. Obviously there are things that shouldn't be done because of the risk factor involved. It would seem obvious that anything you do willingly that would put yourself or others at risk is showing a disregard for the value of human life. If everyone treated their bodies like they cared for them, and also handled themselves as if they cared for the other people around them as well, we would live in a very different world. Of course that will never happen as long as people believe it is their right to do stupid things, regardless of how dangerous it may be to themselves or others. It is stupid and selfish.