Death by Monster Truck

[Trekker4747]

Preface: Yes, we've a thread for posting videos. This paticular video is warrantive of its own thread because of the level of discussion it could generate due to its nature.

LINK

The man -a promoter of the event- was walking out into the arena and stepped infront of one of the moving trucks and was crushed and died later in the hospital.

(For what it is worth, it seems that the first truck ignored/fogot/didn't know the rules for where he was supposed to go after the stunt and drove along the wrong side of the arena. It's possible the man saw that truck passed and assumed that the second truck would be going up the otherside (rather than it going up its correct side.)

But, still, shocking stuff.

 

[TheBrew]

Y'know... we have a thread for videos...

 

[Mr. B]

That's a real shame... but how do you not see something that big and loud?

 

[Alpha Romeo]

That's a real shame... but how do you not see something that big and loud?

Because people are stupid and they do not pay attention. I can't tell you how many times I have been cut off by idiots while driving fire apparatus.

 

[Aragorn]

Just the other week a little kid was killed at a monster truck show by something that flew into the stands.

EDIT: Looks like the story you linked to mentions that.

 

[Dar70]

Look at this news report. The promoter, Geroge Eisenhart who was ran over, was interviewed just before he was killed. He was talking about safety. He said "knock on wood" after discussing their perfect safety record. Very weird.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoAghrrsNBw

 

[T J]

Looks both ways... I learned that the hard way when I was 4 and got run over by a drunk in a truck.

 

[Lindley]

Musta been fake wood.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

That's a real shame... but how do you not see something that big and loud?

Because people are stupid and they do not pay attention. I can't tell you how many times I have been cut off by idiots while driving fire apparatus.

This isn't a case of some guy crossing the street though. This guy is a promoter and as such has a lot of different things he has to be focusing on. As Trekker said, he might have been looking at the first truck that went the wrong way without realizing that another truck was coming along.

Given 16 years of having a perfect safety record, I wouldn't jump to conclusions like calling the guy an idiot. The noise in the arena possibly masked the approach of the second truck, and since they apparently weren't supposed to be going that way it was just a momentary mistake of not looking the other way that cost the poor guy his life.

It doesn't make him an idiot, it just makes him an fallible human being making an extremely rare mistake caught up in a unfortunate set of circumstances caused by others making an extremely rare mistake.

 

[Trekker4747]

At the same time, however, I argue a degree of self-preservation is called for and, well, he probably should've peaked out around the corner before entering the arena floor.

It was accident, though, plain and simple. Not really the fault of anyone. The promoter for not looking, the first driver for going up the wrong way, etc. Just an unfortuante accident.

 

[Hermiod]

Hey, at least the guy can claim in the afterlife that it took a monster truck to kill him. I'm sure there are a few people who have been killed by a G-Whiz or a Smart Car!

 

[Locutus of Bored]

At the same time, however, I argue a degree of self-preservation is called for and, well, he probably should've peaked out around the corner before entering the arena floor.

It was accident, though, plain and simple. Not really the fault of anyone. The promoter for not looking, the first driver for going up the wrong way, etc. Just an unfortuante accident.

You say "at the same time, however" like you were disagreeing with my point, then said the exact same thing I did.

I'm not saying that mistakes weren't made, I'm just not jumping to the conclusion of calling the guy an idiot because once in 16 years of having a perfect safety record he made a mistake that ended in tragedy. That's not a willful disregard for one's safety or the safety of others, it's just being human and sadly making a mistake at the wrong place and time.

 

[SeerSGB]

That's a real shame... but how do you not see something that big and loud?

Because people are stupid and they do not pay attention. I can't tell you how many times I have been cut off by idiots while driving fire apparatus.

That, and when you're around stuff like this as a profession you tend to tune out the noise and certain sights as a matter of course, and just run on a sort of "sense" or "auto pilot". You're hedging a bit that the drive/other guy is watching what he's doing.

I grew up in a trucking family, my dad started out running truckstops before going to drving, mom ran one for years -- I worked 2nd and 3rd at one a few years back. So I know how easy it is to tune out the environment and not notice something unless it's really out of the ordinary.

It's stupid and dangerous-- I'll freely admit-- to let yourself get that way. But someone don't realise they're doing it.