"Safety"
February 14, 2002
For some very good reasons safety has been a topic of discussion as of late. Safety is of utmost importance of that there can be no doubt. There is a hue and cry for additional safety measures on the machines themselves, improved track safety (often out of anybody's control), and some are even saying that the karts are going too fast.
Additional safety measures on the karts themselves are not out of the question but turning them into bumper cars will most likely increase the mayhem.
Improved track safety on bigger race tracks just is not economically feasible and is out of the race promoters control. On many of my personal favorite tracks there are places that I tell driver "Do not go off in this corner, or that corner."
The karts are going too fast? Gimme a break! Statistics show that the majority of the bad accidents occur in the slower classes where the karts tend to run in huge packs.
So what can we do? Educate the drivers, that's what! Kart racing is to all intents and purposes open wheel competition, yet Saturday night stock car driving is becoming prevalent. Many people seem to confuse aggressive driving with rough driving. Has anybody other than me pulled alongside another driver only to have them look at you and then swerve into your side? What the heck is that all about?
Folks whether you want to admit it to yourselves we are doing this for the fun and the competition. Purposely beating on another driver in order to get past is leading towards the dark side. I know as well as anyone that some contact is inevitable and that accidents are going to happen. When a wreck is caused by rough or stupid driving I am not convinced that can still be classified as an accident.
While officials can help to some degree they cannot see nor properly call every incident. Bumping another car from the rear does not have to mean that you are intentionally driving rough, barging into the side of another car does. The final solution lies with the drivers themselves. Let us not hamstring our sport with Knee jerk rule changes or black flag happy officials. Fun, remember this is supposed to be fun!
It is early February as this is being written but racing season is only a few weeks away. Let's hold our heads high and move our sport forward this year. Let's put away all political and personal agendas and have some great racing and some great fun.
Meanwhile, race hard, race safe!
God Bless America!
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