A collision between two cars (driven by Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards) at a NASCAR race led to Edwards’ car crashing into perimeter fencing on the final lap of the Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 449 race at the Talladega Superspeedway (Alabama) on Sunday 26th April.
Seven spectators were struck by flying debris from the collision and suffered non-life-threatening minor injuries (including a suspected broken jaw and minor contusions / fractures). An additional spectator sitting in the same grandstand also suffered chest pains after she had witnessed the incident (possible primary psychiatric damage anyone?), while Edwards himself was able to jog from his car across the finishing line.
According to both a NASCAR official (Jim Hunter) and the medical director of the track (Dr. Bobby Lewis), it was not possible to say with any certainty whether the pieces of debris came from Edwards’ car or from the fence that absorbed the impact, what is important though is that the retaining fence stayed intact and kept the wreckage of the car on the race track. Without this fence, there is no doubt that the injuries could have been fatal.
Seems like it’s the season for rally cars leaving circuits! BBC news reports another crash, this time during the Abingdon Motor Sports Carnival held at the Abingdon race track in Oxfordshire on 14th June 2009. The report states that 0930 BST, the rally car left the circuit and ended up on the grass verge where it collided with two marshalls and a photographer injuring them. An 18yr old man was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries, while two other men aged 22 and 60yrs were taken to hospital with minor injuries. None of the injuries were thought to be life-threatening. The driver and co-driver were also treated for shock at the scene, but were otherwise unhurt.
Police officers are investigating the incident along with the Health & Safety Executive and the Motor Sport Association.
Three spectators have died after a rally car drove into the crowd during a domestic championship race near the eastern town of Stramberk in the Czeck republic, on Saturday 28th March, 2009.
Czech Television also reports that a Slovak Driver (Lukas Lapdavsky) and an injured spectator were taken to hospital. The Valasska Rally (a race on the International Championship of the Czech Republic circuit) was suspended after the accident.
BBC News reports that an Iraqi football player has been shot dead by a spectator as he was about to score an equalising goal. According to police, the shooting apparently happened in the last minute of a game between two local rivals (Sinjar and Buhayra) in the city of Hilla on Sunday. Police have arrested the gunman. At least it puts this Man Utd-Liverpool ‘hatred’ into perspective.
Reuters report that: A number of fans were injured during a Brazilian football match on February 10th, between Vitoria and Bahia. Apparently, “A female fan, who was wearing high heels, lost her balance and fell on top of another fan and this led to a domino effect. This led to some panic and some fans were slightly injured. They were quickly treated in the five ambulances by four doctors and eight nurses.”
A statement issued by the club denied media reports that upto 50 fans had been injured, some seriously.
Violence erupted again at the Australian Open Tennis match between Novak Djokovic and Amer Delic. Two people were charged with riotous behaviour and discharging a missile, while a further 30 people were ejected from the ground.
“Delic and Djokovic said they were disappointed with the trouble after their good-spirited match. “I’m really sad to hear about that,” Delic said of the scuffles. “There’s absolutely no place for that here. This is a tennis match. Novak and I are friends. We’re both competitors, obviously. In the end it was a fair match, and there was no reason for such things.”"
It is not the first time that ethnic tensions has led to crowd violence, indeed in both 2007 and 2008, crowd violence erupted between rival spectators prompting police to adopt a hardline presence at the event.
Yet another injury to spectators watching a sporting event, this time it concerned spectators at a Monster Truck Show in Washington, USA. A piece of the drive train from one of the trucks came loose and catapulted into the crowd on Saturday night killing a 6yr old boy and injuring another spectator.
“Witnesses described the boy, Sebastian Hizey, being struck in the head by a Frisbee-sized chunk of metal that tore off a truck doing doughnuts during the Monster Jam show Friday night in the Tacoma Dome. Police gathered loose parts of the drive train and the drive train loop, a special monster truck device that is supposed to hold the drive train on the vehicle, Bill Easterling, senior operations director for Feld Motor Sports of Aurora, Ill., told The Associated Press on Sunday. He said he could give no further details or description of the loose parts, including where they were found. “I’ve never seen the loop or the drive shaft parts come off like this,” said Easterling, whose company is the promoter of the show. Tacoma police Officer Mark W. Fulghum said no further information on the parts or other aspects of the investigation would be available before Monday at the earliest.
The second spectator struck by debris was taken to a hospital, but authorities haven’t disclosed his name or condition.”
Newspapers report that four cricket teams are being sued in negligence for an alleged injury to a parent hit on the head by a cricket ball at Ilford Cricket Club.
At the end of the session, the mother of one of the cricketers apparently walked into the middle of the pitch to talk to the umpire to see how her son had done, when she was hit by a cricket ball from the teams warming up. Because her back was turned she did not know which team hit the ball towards her, so she is suing all of the teams present in the room on a no-win, no-fee basis!
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About Kris
Kris is a Senior Lecturer, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Staffordshire University, UK. He originally trained and competed as an elite gymnast until a shoulder injury at university forced him to retire as an active competitor. He now spends his spare time coaching Trampolining, Gymnastics, DMT, Cheerleading, Parkour and anything that involves throwing yourself through the air with various degrees of twist and rotation!
Jon is an Associate Professor, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia. Jon worked as a climbing guide, trained and coordinated search and rescue, managed risk and sales in the United States with a European-based manufacturer of outdoor equipment and advised recreation programmes on their exposure to legal risk. His extra-curricular background is just as diverse and includes stints playing semi-pro volleyball in Brazil, researching wolves in the Canadian Rockies, climbing and leading expeditions from Alaska to Argentina, Tajikistan to the Tetons, and many points in between. He has been married to Wendy for 15 years and together they have 2 wonderful kids – Tegan (10) and Brock (8) – whom he continues to emotionally scar as their football coach!
Kris is a Senior Lecturer, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Staffordshire University, UK. He originally trained and competed as an elite gymnast until a shoulder injury at university forced him to retire as an active competitor. He now spends his spare time coaching Trampolining, Gymnastics, DMT, Cheerleading, Parkour and anything that involves throwing yourself through the air with various degrees of twist and rotation!
Jon is an Associate Professor, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia. Jon worked as a climbing guide, trained and coordinated search and rescue, managed risk and sales in the United States with a European-based manufacturer of outdoor equipment and advised recreation programmes on their exposure to legal risk. His extra-curricular background is just as diverse and includes stints playing semi-pro volleyball in Brazil, researching wolves in the Canadian Rockies, climbing and leading expeditions from Alaska to Argentina, Tajikistan to the Tetons, and many points in between. He has been married to Wendy for 15 years and together they have 2 wonderful kids – Tegan (10) and Brock (8) – whom he continues to emotionally scar as their football coach!
July 2, 2009
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