Let's start a pool; I say two more days before this thread gets locked. It went from motorcyclists getting shut out to who voted for President Trump ~just that fast~. Gun control, gay marriage, the American President ... all have been splattered against the wall in this thread. 2 more days, max.
On topic here; My dad and I used to go to Ascot Park every chance we had. I saw a man die right before my wide open 14 year old eyes on my 14th birthday there. One year later I watched another man die, again as my wide open eyes were glued to the battle between three racers went on and the racer was killed as he ran straight into the crash wall at 90mph.
Those were but two flat track racers that were killed among a long list of them over the years, many of which were at Ascot. This is something easily verified if one wishes to doubt what I've written here. Ascot was not closed due to rider risk, it was closed in the very early 1990s due to the owners of the property wanting to convert it into an industrial park ... and to this day the property remains a large, useless, parking lot. But it was not repurposed due to rider danger. This too is easily verified.
And yet, American flat track racing not only continues, but it grows. It's seeing a wonderful resurgence of late, actually. Riders still get killed racing flat track, even today. Shall we ban it as well?
If it's ok to "ban" motorcycles from Pikes Peak due to it's "dangerous and deadly nature" ... then we had best look at banning motorcycles from being built, sold, owned, and especially ridden .. AT ALL .. in the USA. Bikers die every day, mostly on public roads and highways. FAR FAR FAR more than on race tracks. So, with the logic used by yet another committee (PP) that insists on saving us motorcyclists from ourselves, then all motorcycle use, ownership, selling, importing, manufacturing, must be banned out of existence. Y'know, cuz we're all too stupid to know any better and we MUST be saved from ourselves.
And what of cars? Tens of thousands of people die every year ... woopsy! ... time to ban cars. People die every year of alcohol use (either long term use or from alcohol poisoning at parties or during hazing events) ... time to ban alcohol!
That insurance notion? ... yet another idea that would preclude less wealthy people from participating in the Pikes Peak race and only permitting the wealthiest and/or most sponsored to participate ... reeks of elitism. Same thing with the spousal "permission slip" ... what happens in a falling-apart marriage with a mean spirited spouse that won't sign the permission slip just to spite the would-be participant? Bad idea from the get-go.
People die by the hundreds ... all at once ... flying in commercial airliners ... ban them as well?
This idea of saving people from themselves just plain old sucks. Fix the upper portion of the track at Pikes Peak? Why, that would cost too much because the weather causes so much damage it would need annual repair efforts (the roads freeze during winter, which makes the surface crack and deteriorate) ... so the entry fee would need to triple ... yet another cost of entry fee increase.
No-one held a gun to Collin's head to force him to go as fast as he did on the final portion, he made that decision on his own. He knew the risks of going as fast as he did ... he made his own choice to do that ... he gambled, and lost. That's on him.
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