Motorsport is not a safe pass-time, that is without dispute. Those involved whether it be competitors, spectators or marshals know that what they are doing is not 100% safe. If we're honest nothing in life is. But there's a limit as to how many accidents and calamities that can occur, especially in this day and age with health and safety being as paramount as it is. Motorsport, in particular rallying, and even more specifically rallying in the UK has faced turmoil after turmoil over the past couple of years. And sadly on the 10th of October 2015, tragedy struck again on the annual Mull Rally. Photo Credit: Pro-Tec Motorsport At around 13:10 today, Subaru Impreza #2 driven by John MacCrone and co-driven by Andrew Mort crashed, seriously injuring 26 year old John and cruelly taking the life of 47 year old Andrew. Andy was pronounced dead at the scene. After the incident, Police Scotland and rally organised together took the decision to cancel the event, with the organisers later giving this statement on the rally's Facebook page:
[ Images are of driver MacCrone during the McRae Rally Challenge at Kncokhill, May 2015 ] As I'm sure you are all well aware, this is not the first fatality to occur on a rally stage in Britain of recent times. A spectator was killed on the 2013 Snowman Rally, and a further three lost their lives watching the 2014 Jim Clark, whilst young Northern Irish driver Timothy Cathcart lost his life whilst competing in the Ulster Rally just a few months later. Added to that casualty list is now Andy Mort on the 2015 Mull Rally. The effects of these fatalities have been profound. Spectator safety has taken an even larger priority than ever, with new rules being implemented to try and protect onlookers, such as only allowing access to certain stages and sections of the rally. The British Championship (which includes the Jim Clark and Ulster Rallies) suffered greatly too as it didn't even run in 2015. What happens now, after further people have lost their lives in a rally? From where I'm sitting, the future looks rather bleak. If rally is not deemed safe enough, it could very easily die out completely in the UK. Once healthy and safety concerns are raised to a sufficient level, they aren't just going to disappear over night like a bad dream. My opinion is that of course, improvements for safety should be pushed and pushed to the maximum so that the occurrance of tragedies like the one today can be kept to a bare minimum. But inevitably, no matter how much you try, there is always an element of risk involved with motor racing. And everybody associated is fully aware of this. I really do fear however that the authorities pulling the plug altogether. I would respect that decision, as there is a lot of logic behind it. However, I don't believe it should or needs to come to that. There is risk involved with every single thing you do in life, albeit varying levels depending on the activity. But even everyday activities such as taking a shower in the morning are potentially dangerous. You could slip, hit your head and sustain serious injuries in a worst case scenarios. What's my point? We could very well reach a point within society that we are advised not to do or banned from doing a whole range of things, because of the level of risk involved. I am all for minimising this risk, but you can never guarantee something to be 100% safe. It is impossible. What would I do? Push rallying to the safest level it possibly can be. Throw in ultimatums to ill-behaved spectators such as fines or threats to cancel events? Drive the message of safety constantly in event promotion, magazines and other media outlets? Innovate further as to how to improve vehicle safety? I'm not in a position of power to make those kind of calls. But I really do beg to those that are to do the right thing, and not scrub the sport altogether. Us fans may complain that the freedom on a rally stage is and will definitely be near diminished, but what's the alternative? No rally at all. None of us want that. In times of adversity, an important decision really has to be made regarding the future of rallying. Whatever that decision may be, I doubt the sport will ever be quite the same again. In Memory of Andrew Mort: 1968 - 2015
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BRITISH RALLYINGArticles covering rally in Britain, looking at the MSA BRC Archives
September 2017
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