How Dangerous is Motorsport.....really?

Factual Questions
1

I’m a big fan of F1, WRC and motorsport in general. However quite often when I tell people this they are shocked and disgusted that I could be so keen on something thats so dangerous, full of so much death and destruction.

Now my ideas on risk may be somewhat…unconventional…in general, (I pretty much believe that if someone wants to do something dangerous than thats their own choice, in terms of motorsport no-one forces people to race, they do it for love of the sport), but taking F1 for an example. In the past 10 years there has been no driver fatalities at all, the last too die during a race or practice were Karl Wendlinger and Aryton Senna on the San Marino Race weekend 1994. (which was an extremely unfortunate weeked for the sport in general) though there have been several accidents since when track marshalls have been killed.

However F1 is one of the peaks of motorsport with much higher standards of safety than others and I’m wondering how dangerous the sport is in general.

I’m also a big fan of Motorbike Road Racing such as the Isle of Man TT and the Northern Ireland road race season. Joey Dunlop was one of my “hero’s” (though I dislike using that term as I don’t buy the cult of celebrity and worshipping sportstars but he really was something special)

You haven’t lived unless you’ve stood in a field with nothing but a barbed wire fence and 3 feet of pavement seperating you from a pack of 20+ bikes jostling for position as they scream past at 170mph+ :smiley:

To give an idea, in 2000 at the North-West race a rider was clocked at over 200mph on the main straight coming into Portrush, this is on public roads where the only concession to safety for the race is strapping a hay bail to the telephone poles.

Now that is a dangerous sport but again, nobody forces them to ride.

So…how dangerous is motorsport? While I did find it amusing when one person gave a gasp of breath and muttered “The Killer Sport!” on hearing I like F1 it does wear a bit thin when people campaign to have the sport banned.

Thanks.

2

I drove race cars for many years and had my share of crashes. I had absolutely no fear of dying while racing, there are too many other things to worry about. This was even after being involved in a crash in which a fellow competitor lost his life. I don’t think of it as being any more dangerous than driving down the road at 35 mph. I looked at some listing of the most dangerous jobs and motorsports participants are not even listed. As with anything, it is all a matter of perception. I have no problem driving a race car but try to put me on an amusement ride that goes upside down. I will fight to the death to stay off the ride, it’s too dangerous.

Motorsports is inheritently dangerous, that is the appeal. Those that reach the top are pros and they know what they are doing. No one does it because they want to die or get hurt. Personally, there are a lot of other things people do that I consider a lot more dangerous. Like riding the Zipper ride at the county fair.

3

It was Roland Ratzenburger, not Karl Wendlinger.

I think that, statistically speaking, motorsports are safer than driving on the street. People die in car crashes every day. If you add up all the miles racers spend testing, practicing, qualifying, and racing, there are incredibly few fatal accidents.

As someone who is actively involved in motorsports, I am extremely annoyed by the “racing is all about seeing big crashes” attitude that most people seem to have.

4

Why? Crashes are spectacular, and most people I know who enjoy motorsport like to see a spectacular crash with no injuries. Same with airshows, although airshows have a much much higher accident to injury rate.

5

Then there are all the recent advances in safety technology that have dramatically decreased fatalities and injuries. No cite, but I’ve seen shows about racing that said something like a third or half of all race drivers before the 1960s died behind the wheel. These days a fatality in almost any professional series is a shocking rarity.

In the past few decades, race series, teams, and engineers have taken a serious and scientific approach to improving safety equipment in the cars, the drivers’ gear (e.g. helmets, etc.), and the tracks themselves. Cars are going faster than ever (up to 240 mph), and yet drivers usually walk away from accidents. Safety gear now protects pit crews and spectators as well.

Motorsports is not as safe as, say, chess, and never will be. But it is far, far, safer than it used to be, and is getting safer all the time.

6

Far less dangerous than it used to be (has early racing death stats), though still quite (recent stats) dangerous (ESPN- recent famous drivers), despite getting safer all the time. Given the numbers of people participating in organized racing today versus yesteryear, and the increased speeds, the safety measures must be working.

From the driver tubs, frames, and tougher suspensions to HANS devices, electronic telemetry, soft walls* – going back to adding fire extinguishers and better tires. One thing I find interesting is that air bags are prohibited in most forms of racing, too dangerous.

Greater runoff areas near corners, softer walls, and generally smarter modern track design will have as much impact on safety as anything. The street tracks with cement walls will always be unforgiving. Long straightaways with deep braking from high speeds will always be dicey also. The cars just keep getting more powerful.

The latest MB-Chrysler prototype car is theoretically capable of going 248 mph (in km: tres grand vitesse, or 400). That’s with tall gearing, obviously. Still, the 0-60 time should be under 3 seconds. That’s sick. You could, theoretically, win quite a few professional races with that – someday street? – car. Crank the stereo, run the AC, and win LeMans?

Racing accidents in the past were really bloody, sometimes involving scores of racers and spectators. Indy had some early horror stories as has F1. Open wheel race cars that can travel fast enough to get airborne (ask MB) without downforce – and lots of it – are inherently unsafe. When a race car gets airborne, not much good will come from it. Breaking downforce could be caused by a number of things including cresting a hill or hitting debris.

Racing is inherently dangerous. One of the articles I cites suggested that it amouts to a bloodsport, but I’m not buying that. People like hard racing, that leads to wrecks – exciting. I don’t know any race fan that wants injuries or deaths. It’s impossible to imagine two guys braking hard from a long straight into a corner without some of them getting tangled up occasionally. If the brakes fail and the car quickly hits a hard wall before going airborne, that’s a serious track design flaw that needs fixing.

*Every track that can have them, should.

7

What is the number of fatal accidents per miles traveled in motorsports? I suspect that number to be about equal to accidents in public roads. Cite anybody?

8

It’s not just motorsports, I get the same reaction when I tell people I fly airplanes.

Well, I also get the “you don’t look like a pilot” line, too.

There are a lot of people who are scared spitless of anything they perceive to have the least little bit of risk. Oddly enough, they often seem to be the same people who drive like idiots on the freeway - frequently an extremely dangerous activity, but one they don’t perceive as particularly risky

I don’t “get” motorsports, but I have friends and acquaintances who are both fans and former racers. My impression from them is that it isn’t any more dangerous than, say, scuba diving. A lot of the risk depends on the person involved and how careful they are. Careless idiots do not last long in those activities.

For better or worse, though, mainstream media tends to notice motorsports only when there’s a spectacular crash, then play it over and over on the evening news, thereby giving the impression this is a suicidal activity. All a matter of perception.

9

I cannot believe I got that wrong…(hangs head in shame)…

Thanks for the answers everyone. I was wondering because for some reason I’m constantly surprised at the general public and medias perception as some sort of barely-legitimate modern day gladitorial combat. The calls for it too be banned every time a serious accident happens irritate me greatly, in fact until very recently (like this month) motorsports was banned in Switzerland after the 1955 Le Mans disaster.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

btw I posted a question on another forum to discover who likes it just as a test and 90+% of the replies were variations of “its boring, cars going round in circles” or “you people only watch for the crashes, you’re sick!”

Personally I find the UK national obsession of soccer uninteresting in the extreme but people can talk about it all day…

Like several others have said here I believe the general public has a very strange attitude towards risk in general. I definitely don’t understand the apparent need to restrict activities that others participate in of their own free choice.

10

I was raised by a guy who raced motorcycles for 25 years (and then taught me how to drive!). I spent the first ten years of my life playing in the dirt and weeds next to short-tracks and half-mile circuits. He took us to car races, car shows and any race involving engines. (Motorcycle racing on ice is particularly interesting.) Not once, in my life have I attended a race where someone was killed. I have witnessed some pretty serious accidents although most recover and race again – jury’s still out on Zanardi who lost both his legs near the knee a couple years ago in a CART race in Germany. He wants to race again – they’re trying to work out good acceleration and braking systems as hand controls for him.

I think football is far more dangerous, although I’ve never witnessed a death from a football injury either. (Referring to American football.)

What is the most dangerous, IMHO, would be driving on America’s freeways. All of us take our lives in our hands nearly every day, yet some will criticize those who watch racing. Go figure.

11

This is a very interesting question. The latter number is easily discovered, but the former would be quite a bit trickier, since you’d have to decide what to include and collect data from many different sources.

But I’d be willing to place a small wager that fatalities per mile in motorsports is lower than street driving. There is much more focus on safety in racing than among the general public.

12

Because racing isn’t about crashes. In fact, racing is about not crashing. When there is a crash, it usually means someone screwed up.

Racing is about precision, technology, teamwork, and various other things. It is not about crashing, regardless if anyone is killed or injured or not. Crashing is the antithesis of racing. No true fan wants to see crashes. Except maybe NASCAR, but that barely qualifies as racing anyways.

As others have pointed out, it’s the mainstream media’s focus on spectacular accidents that gives people the impression that racing is some sort of brutal deathsport. It isn’t.

13

Why? Crashes are spectacular, and most people I know who enjoy motorsport like to see a spectacular crash with no injuries. Same with airshows, although airshows have a much much higher accident to injury rate.

I totally disagree. This is what people like yourself and the media like to believe and promulgate. People watch racing to see human skill in action in close competition.

Also often simply because they like cars and like to see them being pushed to their limits, exactly the same reason people go to airshows. Anyone else ever noticed that car people so often are also plane people? I’m interested in both and attend airshows while I can, though I’ve been sorely disappointed as I’ve never seen a plane crash yet.

I really don’t understand this, “Its only the crashes that interest them” mentality, and its something that’s promoted by people who either have no interest in, or are actively hostile, to the sports. True fans, the majority, aren’t watching for those reasons.

No sport gives me the same surge of tension and adrenaline as the Grand Prix cars as the strain on the grid for the green lights on the standing starts. (something I miss in American race series with the rolling starts)

Have you ever watched in real life as a rally driver throughs a car sideways through a gravel corner at seemingly impossible speeds, sometimes within what seems touching distance?

I’ve never raced myself but I have acted as co-driver in a local rally series.

Its the scream of the engine, the smell of the petrol, the skill of the competitors and, yes, the very real danger.

After all, as Stirling Moss said, “Where’s the fun in gambling for matchsticks?” :smiley:

14

I know it´s nitpicking, but it was Roland Ratzenberger, not Roland Ratzenburger. Karl Wendlinger had a very bad accident, in Monaco if I remeber correctly. He still has a very successful career in motorsport racing, but no loger in F1.

15

Uh… no. I certainly never want to see another airplane crash in person, even from a “safe” distance, whether there are injuries or not. It’s not just the wreckage of a fine machine… it’s also the potential for wrecked human bodies and shattered lives.

I go to airshows to see flying machines and fine piloting. NOT to see crashes!

16

This all depends on what type of racing you’re looking at. At one extreme you have stock cars racing on oval dirt tracks and demolition derby type events. The cars are designed to be smacked into each other. People who go to these things want to see a bit of action with the cars. A car gets rolled, big cheers from the crowd. At the other extreme you have racing such as F1 or Indy Cars, crashing is avoided at all costs and no one really wants to see anything bad happen. In the middle is all kinds of racing such Australia’s V8 Supercars. Modified street cars hurtling around race tracks fast enough to be exciting but still involving a lot of incidents of cars being bumped and spun off the track or into a wall, once again, big cheers from the crowd when this happens.

First up, airshows was a bad example, it kind of falls into the F1 category of avoiding crashing at all costs (obviously). I still believe though that there are a significant number of airshow attendees who have a guiltily supressed desire to see something unexpected happen. I hope I’m wrong.

17

Zanardi has raced. Before the CART race in Germany last season he drove a dozen laps or so at race speed. He also started racing in the European Touring Car Championship with a specially made BMW with hand controls.