Oh man! Danica Patrick runs over pit crew guy!

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2008/05/danicas-car-hit.html



Just when her career was improving..this happens. Either it was too crowded in there or not I'm not sure, but if I'm in a crowded parking lot, I still will get ticketed for running over someone. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that she should be penalized at least insomuch as a regular driver, if not more. I know most people would disagree with me, citing the crowded pit conditions or that she's a woman and it wasn't her fault or whatever... but damn.. this sport is dangerous and rather pointless enough.. and yet when something goes wrong, fans blame everyone else but the person at fault. For months after Earnhardt died thats all I heard about for days, and they blamed his seatbelt and the wall and everyone else blah blah blah, and yet this guy had to know that going around a track repreatedly at 200 mph, something was going to happen, it was a career choice.

Anyway, don't you have to be licensed? Yes. And if I run over someoneon the street.. even with an accident, I am charged and have to pay my dues, I think it should be the same way for Patrick.

What's odd is that I LIKE her.

Danica Patrick, Indy racing's most celebrated personality, was dodging the spotlight Friday after her car struck another team's crew member in the pits at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Patrick devoted only 14 seconds to a statement on hitting Chuck Buckman Sr., a crew member for Dale Coyne racing, the Indianapolis Star's website reported.
"Hi. Um, you know, it's really, really unfortunate what happened today," Patrick told sports media that gathered in front of her garage. "Thoughts and prayers are with him, with his family and hopefully he can get back on the track soon and be able to do what he loves. Thank you."
Buckman suffered scalp and facial cuts and a concussion, the Star said. He was reported alert and awake as an ambulance took him to a hospital, where he was expected to be held overnight.
Patrick's teammate, Marco Andretti, told the Star, "You don't like to see that kind of thing, but, you know, it's not Danica's fault, it's not anybody's fault."
Patrick had headed into practice for the Indianapolis 500 on a roll, having become the first female driver to win in a major closed-course series with an Indy circuit victory in Japan in April.
SI.com quoted Buckman saying: "I really don't remember how it happened . . . All I remember is I was talking with someone on Marco Andretti's team and then everything is blank from that point . . . I will be OK and hopefully back to work in a day or two."
SI.com said its sources indicated Patrick and some of her crew members were distraught after the incident, and that Buckman was thrown over her car before he went face down to the ground.
"Danica's team is torn up," Dale Coyne Racing chief mechanic Mitch Davis told SI.com.

 

[nevermore]

...or that she's a woman and it wasn't her fault or whatever...

Because her tits got caught in the steering wheel?

 

[pookha]

well it sounds as if it isnt all her fault. from another part of the si article
sports illustrated article

With lots of traffic on pit lane and pedestrian traffic behind the pits, it made for a congested situation.

"He was actually walking down pit lane (running an errand) down by the Andretti Green pits," said Dale Coyne Racing chief mechanic Mitch Davis. "The Green guys said he was walking along, looked back at Marco Andretti, stepped to the right and when he did he stepped right in front of her. He was going back to the garage to get something.

this stuff happens more then you seem to suspect.
it is why the crews were the helmets.
and how dangerous is it to be walking down pit lane and turning around to talk to someone .

 

[Pingfah]

Well I think Indy Car is a lot like Formula one?

In F1 the driver takes a precise line into the pits, and woe betide anyone who is in the way of them. It's always the pit crews responsibility to make sure they stay out of the way of the car, not vice versa

 

[Gil T.Azell]

"It was a driver trying to get back (to the pits), and he should have been more aware too," Coyne told ESPN.com. "It's an accident that happens."

being involved in the local racing scene here, paying attention (being aware) is one of the first thing you learn.
the Speed limit in our pits is a FAST Walk, but in the heat of competion drivers forget. So Crew Members like the man Danica hit have to pay ateention, he was walk down pit road and turned to look at Maro Andretti, and vered into Danica's Path.
its part of the risk.

 

[Pingfah]

^ Oh it was another driver. Well, same thing applies, don't walk in front of cars entering the pits, simple.

Its much easier to not walk in front of a car than it is for a car to avoid you once you've done it.

 

[JonathonWally]

http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2008/05/danicas-car-hit.html



she's a woman and it wasn't her fault or whatever

What's that got to do with anything?

this sport is dangerous and rather pointless enough

All sports are equally pointless, they exist for entertainment, most are pretty dangerous too

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2008/05/danicas-car-hit.html



she's a woman and it wasn't her fault or whatever

What's that got to do with anything?

this sport is dangerous and rather pointless enough

All sports are equally pointless, they exist for entertainment, most are pretty dangerous too

First I don't think it has to do with anything. What I meant was that I'm sure it will be an excuse someone will use though, to take the blame off of her.

Second, I DO think it was her fault, crowded pit aside. I mean if I'm in a crowded parking lot with people and cars, it's still my responsibility as a driver not to hit anyone!

 

[JonathonWally]

Second, I DO think it was her fault, crowded pit aside. I mean if I'm in a crowded parking lot with people and cars, it's still my responsibility as a driver not to hit anyone!

Comparing indy car racing to daily driving is pretty stupid. If you're walking around a racetrack around cars doing speeds of 200+ mph and you're not paying attention, you need some sense slapped into you. And yes, pit road is a part of the track, it's the garages that aren't.

Why was he walking in her pit box? As a pit crew, he knows full well the dangers that are possible, it's reasons like that why if your car isn't in your pit box, you stay BEHIND THE CONCRETE WALL.

 

[nevermore]

she's a woman and it wasn't her fault or whatever

What's that got to do with anything?

First I don't think it has to do with anything. What I meant was that I'm sure it will be an excuse someone will use though, to take the blame off of her.

And in what way would her gender absolve her from guilt in this situation? Why would anyone think that pointing out her gender would 'take the blame off her'?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

...or that she's a woman and it wasn't her fault or whatever...

Because her tits got caught in the steering wheel?

There's a nice mental image.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

the gender thing i brought up was SARCASM.. I was making a point that I wouldn't be surprised at all if the media mentioned it

 

[pookha]

http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2008/05/danicas-car-hit.html



she's a woman and it wasn't her fault or whatever

What's that got to do with anything?

this sport is dangerous and rather pointless enough

All sports are equally pointless, they exist for entertainment, most are pretty dangerous too

First I don't think it has to do with anything. What I meant was that I'm sure it will be an excuse someone will use though, to take the blame off of her.

Second, I DO think it was her fault, crowded pit aside. I mean if I'm in a crowded parking lot with people and cars, it's still my responsibility as a driver not to hit anyone!

even if someone walks out in front of you..

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

the gender thing i brought up was SARCASM.. I was making a point that I wouldn't be surprised at all if the media mentioned it

Why do you imagine that they would?

Actually, you made it clear that you're the one making the distinction, not some faceless "media":

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that she should be penalized at least insomuch as a regular driver, if not more.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Second, I DO think it was her fault, crowded pit aside. I mean if I'm in a crowded parking lot with people and cars, it's still my responsibility as a driver not to hit anyone!

even if someone walks out in front of you..

In a parking lot, you shouldn't be going so fast as to cause permanent damage or pain if you hit somebody - the worst that should happen is that you'd be going just slow enough to mildly bump them, and you shouldn't even do that obviously.

And if you're going as slow as you should be, you should be able to see most pedestrians and avoid hitting them in the first place.

I realize that there's always the unexpected, like a little kid darting out in front of your car. But you should always be on the lookout for things like that anyway.

 

[JonathonWally]

Second, I DO think it was her fault, crowded pit aside. I mean if I'm in a crowded parking lot with people and cars, it's still my responsibility as a driver not to hit anyone!

even if someone walks out in front of you..

In a parking lot, you shouldn't be going so fast as to cause permanent damage or pain if you hit somebody - the worst that should happen is that you'd be going just slow enough to mildly bump them, and you shouldn't even do that obviously.

And if you're going as slow as you should be, you should be able to see most pedestrians and avoid hitting them in the first place.

I realize that there's always the unexpected, like a little kid darting out in front of your car. But you should always be on the lookout for things like that anyway.

That'd be all well and good if Danica was driving the family truckster in the lot of the grocery store instead of a highly tuned racecar on a racetrack

 

[pookha]

indy car pit speed limit can be from 45 - 65 mph depending on the pit road set up ect..
it isnt a parking lot and the crews have to respect that.
i just wonder why he was walking down the pit road when you can walk around behind the barriers.

 

[Colonel Green]

http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2008/05/danicas-car-hit.html



she's a woman and it wasn't her fault or whatever

What's that got to do with anything?

this sport is dangerous and rather pointless enough

All sports are equally pointless, they exist for entertainment, most are pretty dangerous too

First I don't think it has to do with anything. What I meant was that I'm sure it will be an excuse someone will use though, to take the blame off of her.

Second, I DO think it was her fault, crowded pit aside. I mean if I'm in a crowded parking lot with people and cars, it's still my responsibility as a driver not to hit anyone!

The parking lot analogy is stupid.

A freeway off-ramp would be a better (but still inadequate) comparison.

If someone steps right in front of your car on a freeway off ramp and you cannot avoid hitting them, is it your fault?

Nope. Dumbass shouldn't have been walking there.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

A freeway off-ramp would be a better (but still inadequate) comparison.

If someone steps right in front of your car on a freeway off ramp and you cannot avoid hitting them, is it your fault?

Nope. Dumbass shouldn't have been walking there.

If that happened for real, what would the police likely think? (Even assuming you weren't drunk or speeding or anything like that.)

 

[pookha]

that the driver wasnt at fault and wonder why the pedastrian did that depending on the exit ramp.
some times walking done the street you have to cross an off ramp and it is your responsibility to make sure it is safe to do so if it is a ramp that has a merge lane with the highway.
if the crossing place is at a stop sign for the exiting car then they have responsibility to stop.