Have you ever lived in a world where a luxury becomes a necessity? What would you do without running water, cell phones, or comfortable shoes? Granted in having, to have held, to hold something dear even though it has no needed use. I like cars, and I like telling people what I think about them. I've had some negative feedback, and it seems that if no one says these things, then there is no one to be wrong.
I must make this, 100% clear: I have expectations to your reaction to this post. I am not against roll cages, they are a useful item for safety and chassis rigidity. They have their purpose, and their place. My expectation is that you are aware that I am not against them, that in fact I do support them, I expect that you will be comfortable looking like a fool if you miss my point. My argument is simply this: Luxuries are not necessity. I grow very tired of the absorbed conclusions of automobile safety. It's exhausting to hear peoples needless fears of minor collisions and incidents. I expect you as a reader to be aware that I too am aware, that yes there is a risk of injury in any collision. I expect you to know that yes, you can get hurt in a car and I expect you to know that yes, a roll cage can help reduce the risk of injury.
Sports Tanks are the wave of the near future if not occurring currently, and remote living is the next step. I've always enjoyed remote control cars for their gentle approach to automotive racing, and I'm curious if some people participating in simulation racing, are just too afraid of the real thing. Not simply from a danger perspective, but responsibilities as well. But are these observations accurate?
I get annoyed, angry, exhausted with the ideal that YOU WILL DIE, or be horribly maimed in a car crash if you drive risky. Yes, you can, yes there is a chance, yes there is a possibility. But unless it happens, then it hasn't. I know that's a statement that is vague, and I'm trying my best to word this how I feel, it's difficult to put my feeling down.
It's almost elitist, and a fun murder. A fear of fun, an over value of life. A life has value with what has been done with it and not how it's been preserved. Some people accept the challenge of these over zealous safety rules and embrace them, sometimes too much, and in some cases they succeed and continue their racing fun. Others accept the challenge and fail in the long run, too much of a project, too great an expectation, too complicated of a concept. Some are never able to accept the challenge in the first place. Either way a large group of people are excluded, and I hate that for some very important reasons: Racing is strictly for fun, and specifically here in Canada, where such a small general population exists, the racing population is even smaller. Excluding people in such a small group is a sport killer, unlike Europe or Japan, there isn't an over abundance of racing here in Canada. To be brutally honest, it basically brushing with death here. Yes, it exists, but in such tiny quantities. Getting more people on the track, builds business for the track, which becomes tracksssssss, it builds business for the shop, which becomes shopsssssssss.
Luxuries are not necessities, a roll cage, is a luxury. It's a luxury of safety, and it only protects you the driver. It does not protect the crowd or other drivers. Safety is important, you want people to have a good time without injury, and there need to be rules in place. But I find a imbalance in the requirements, and imbalance in the realism in the view of accidents. Not just on the track but in real life. A fear, a stench of unrealistic approach, it's almost as if peoples ACTUAL personal experiences with collisions and injury have no affect on their perspective of safety and risk. As if every minor fender bender, or even major one was a brush with death. Let's be honest here, every day is a Brush with death. You will die, you will perish, it's going to happen, and it's basically not in your control. The only control over it you have, is how soon it will happen and even then, that's a mild amount of control. Every action you do is a risk; a brush with death, and by forcing others to live up to your expectations of luxury necessities, you risk alienating those who may enjoy it even more than you. Racing in general is dying in Canada, and it's truly because of the misobservation of risk.
People have died in the past racing. Simple mistakes, horrible consequences. I don't know what's shocking about death and injury in racing? If you, the driver, the passenger, the flag person, the photographers, the pit crew member, even the fan in the stands. I find it strange when people are surprised by injury in motorsport, as it's completely ignorant to be surprised! There are drivers who seem to not quite understand it themselves.
I guess what it boils down to is: If want a cage in your car, if you want that luxury of necessity then go for it, but don't push your personal beliefs on me, I need to be free to take my own risks. I appreciate your awareness of the risks, and the shared knowledge and potential occurances, that's free to be shared always, but requirements for these items without logical proof or support for them, beyond personal safety, then these rules are confusing. With specifics to drifting, especially that of fun, relaxed amatuer drifting, there is such an insanely low injury rate, it's basically UNHEARD of in the past 20 years it's been a recognized motoring activity.
I strongly believe in never hurting others, I also strongly believe: Personal safety is a Luxury, not a necessity.
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Good read, Quinn. Exclusivity is definitely hindering the growth of motor sports here and it continues to make the majority of auto sports unreachable, to most, the smaller it gets. I agree with a lot of what you said personally, but I think in business it really comes down to money.
A- The cost to leasees/investors/insurance providers to have individuals comply to rules and regulations in place to protect said groups from any negative economic actions.
B- Cost to venue/insurance to cover any repercussions that may come from possible injury/death of participants (ie. lawyers, courts, maintenance, media backlash etc).
As long as A<B it's just not financially viable to operate without rules and regulations or lower them to the point where the risk of unfavourable economic risks will be more likely.
Just my 2cents. Like I said, I agree with you personally. If I had my own venue I would run as long as I felt, personally, safe without anyone telling me what's what.
You are crazy. Youstartedintonowherelandinthemiddle. I think sometimes you must play along or not at all. It’s good to be free and move againts the grain. You know your still going to get splinters along they way. P.s. Nice elephant ;-)