[Colin]

Originally Posted by PONTIAC DUDE

Bad judgement.

Anyone who street races know how tricky a street can be anyway. Especially with no rubber in a groove, let alone trash and gravel.

Extended burnout is a no no.

I personally wouldn't race 'on certain streets or roads' when my car ran into the nines because of traction and handling issues. Most of the sideways problems occur on the leave trying to plant that tire.

The big problem is that most streets and roads have a crown, or high spot, in the center and the edges of the road are lower..........to promote water drainage. So, in a long burnout the car will drift to one side or the other.
A lot of times its not noticeable just looking at the road or street but its there on most of them.

[Elarson]

A few thoughts:

We've been asked, prodded & begged many times to do burnouts in parking lots, streets, etc. It's very tempting...but we've always turned them down......seems like a pretty good decision.

Lots of people involved could have used better judgment, but the driver is ultimately responsible. He may spend part of his life in jail for vehicular homicide. He'll certainly spend the rest of his life haunted and tormented with the memory of what happened.

Once the car started to go sideways, the driver became a helpless passenger. Been there, done that (on the track).

The personal injury lawyers will have a heyday. The team assets will not even begin to cover it....the lawyers will go after the sponsor (AMS) and maybe the charity, the city, ....anyone who has some cash. The effect I'm afraid of, is that all across America, sponsor companies will be asking themselves if they are exposed to big liability lawsuits. The AMS Pro Mod series will surely lose its funding and go away (unless another sponsor steps in). I'm wondering what other corporate money will dry up?

Eric

[pontchief]

http://www.troycritchley.com/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SELMER, Tenn. (June 18, 2007) "The entire AMS Racing Team is in deep mourning over the losses and pain suffered this weekend. Our thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and their families during this difficult time. We are shocked and deeply saddened by this tragic accident, which is compounded by the fact that it occurred during a charitable event designed to raise money for disabled children. We offer our deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the individuals that were injured or perished in the accident," team spokesman William Reid said Monday.

The team was asked to attend a charity event in Selmer, Tenn. to help raise money for the Cars For Kids charity and was told the organization had staged a charity car show for the past 18 years in which the drivers performed burnouts. The team sent its racing team to the event to display two racing cars -- a '93 Corvette and a '57 Chevy - and planned to have each vehicle perform an exhibition burnout.

A burnout is a demonstration in which the driver spins the tires to create smoke and noise to demonstrate the ability of the car. The driver involved in the accident, Troy Critchley, is an experienced professional driver who had performed more than a 1,000 exhibition burnouts without incident prior to Saturday.

The team arrived in Selmer on Friday June 15, 2007. On Saturday the team displayed two cars for the public to view, and, after displaying the cars, the crew was instructed to line up with other cars participating in the event. After the parade was completed, Selmer Police Officers blocked off the highway for the cars to perform the burnouts. The team understands that the Selmer Police Chief, Neal Burks, was present and in charge of crowd placement and blocking off the street.

The drivers understood that the roadway had been inspected and approved for the burnout exhibition. Before Mr. Critchley began the exhibition, two Selmer police cars traveled down the left and right of the roadway and instructed the crowd to move back. Mr. Critchley was signaled to start and he began to perform the burnout. After a straight start, the car skidded off the road. Mr. Critchley did everything humanly possible to keep the car on the road, but unfortunately, there was nothing he could do.

Mr. Critchley was taken to the Emergency Room and treated for injuries he sustained in the accident. He voluntarily submitted blood for testing to the Tennessee Highway Patrol and it was confirmed he had no alcohol or drugs in his system. The entire crew remained in Selmer on Sunday, June 17 to cooperate and provide information to Tennessee State authorities investigating the accident.

The team has agreed for the involved car to remain in the possession of the Tennessee Highway Patrol for examination. Mr. Critchley was not arrested nor has he been given any indication he will be charged with a criminal offense. The team is cooperating with the State of Tennessee and is currently investigating a number of factors that may have contributed to the accident including crowd control, safety precautions and the preparation and condition of the roadway.

[Junkyard Dog]

The article states that they were supposed to burn for 20 to 50 feet. That is 1 to 2.5 car lengths.

He WAY exceeded that.

This would not have happened had he let off in 50 feet.

This 20 to 50 feet rule is why the guy was standing in the middle of the road to do the flagging. He would not have been doing that if the drivers were going to be burning their tires for hundreds of feet, obviously.

[PONTIAC DUDE]

Originally Posted by screamingchief

All the pictures that I've seen of the car after the crash show the butterflys on the injector hat fully closed,so I dont expect there to be a finding of mechanical failure as the cause here.

If the throttles stuck the driver should have instinctively killed the mags and shutoff the fuel immediately,and in that case the car would have gone silent pretty quickly,and it is pretty obvious in the video of this accident that did'nt happen,at least not till it was waaayyy too late to prevent this from happening.

And do note,the odds that this car carried an onboard data recorder/logger are almost certain,so they already know exactly what the driver did behind the wheel during this incident.

Look for the investigation to likely find that ultimately it was a combination of factors,including driver error/poor judgement/improper venue for this sorta display.

That sorta finding will cover all the bases,and spreads the blame to all involved pretty much.

JMO/FWIW.

You have to trip the data logger to get info. I don't think they woud have set it just for a burnout show.

[PONTIAC DUDE]

The team is cooperating with the State of Tennessee and is currently investigating a number of factors that may have contributed to the accident including crowd control, safety precautions and the preparation and condition of the roadway.

Looks like if there is any legal action (and now-a-days a guarentee) the city & police along with the organization that put the event on might be held liable?

[J Brady]

Looked to me like he filled the interior of the car with tire smoke and just drove into the crowd. not to smart!

[71 Ventura II]

I use to work in Selmer, TN. every time I see or read about the tragedy it makes me sick. I'm hoping they find a mechanical failure, stuck throttle, or something to explain this event. This was about as smart as, "looking down the barrel of a loaded gun". IMO God Bless those people... JD

[potentpontiac]

This was truley a sad event.The burnout should have been kept to a minimum distance to prevent an out of control situation.Maybe a little too much adreniline flowing and he just kept his foot in it too long. Definately a lesson learned from such a tragic event.I have had neighbors wanting me to do a smokey burnout on our street.My answer to that is no way in H--L.To unpredictable conditions to even think about it.Sorry for the families who lost their young children.

[Heybuck]

Troy Critchley was interviewed by Australian 60 Minutes tonight.

Apparently he has been charged with 6 homicides and 22 counts of assult and could face 90+ years in prison?

I'm not sure whether the segment will be shown in the US but you have to feel sorry for ALL affected parties in this. Ultimately I think it's Troy Critchley who is going to carry the biggest burden of responsibility but what about the mittigating factors such as the Police declaring the strip was safe, the Fire Department "aiding" the burn-out by appling "liberal volumes" of water to the track to "make the tyres spin"?

What a can of worms this is? And the bottom line is there are only going to be losers in this. No-one is going to "win".

[formulabird428]

I watched the video. He went thru 2 gears. Definitely the driver is at fault. He just stayed in the throttle too long. Period.

God bless those who were injured and those who suffered losses.

[Brian Baker]

Here we go again. Of course the driver is culpable...but so too is the local police force for allowing such a display to be conducted on a public street.

[Tom Vaught]

Quote:

"I'm not sure whether the segment will be shown in the US but you have to feel sorry for ALL affected parties in this. Ultimately I think it's Troy Critchley who is going to carry the biggest burden of responsibility but what about the mittigating factors such as the Police declaring the strip was safe, the Fire Department "aiding" the burn-out by appling "liberal volumes" of water to the track to "make the tyres spin"?"

Quote:

"Here we go again. Of course the driver is culpable...but so too is the local police force for allowing such a display to be conducted on a public street."

The deal is (in my mind), the police will not be blamed as "they did not know what could go wrong". Like most Fools, they just went along for the ride with the crime was committed. Maybe some hand
slapping on the deal, a lost job for the Police Chief and Fire Chief.

Tim unfortunately was very experienced, knew the power of his car, and did not make sure the event minimized any potential things that could go wrong" People well back from the street, concrete barriers, etc. I worked many races for the SCCA and both worked with and supervised "Corner Workers" on the tracks. You do not allow spectators in some areas, PERIOD. Tim will be the guy taking the big fall as he was the most experienced guy at the event.

I saw a video on U-Tube a while back where some guy from down south was having races on a piece of pavement on his property where the people were a few feet from the surface. Young, old, and children. A basic yard wire fence was the only thing that kept people off the "track" and naturally EVERYONE was ASSUMING that the racers would have no problems and run into them during the event. Been doing the deal for YEARS supposedly.

Most people do not realize that they are inches away from death. They assume that the track is protecting THEM. They don't read the waiver that says the track is not responsible. Course a good lawyer usually ripped that document to shreds in minutes. That is why we carried vast amounts of liability insurance for the track events I did.

Tom V.

[Brian Baker]

Coem on, Tom..."the police did not know what could go wrong"? What went wrong, according to vehicular laws in that state (and every state) was the operation of a vehicle on a public highway that was not registered to be operated on said public highway. Then there are the laws regarding vehicular safety (ie - operating the vehicle in a wreckless and/or unsafe manner). Sure, the police probably did not guess in their wildest dreams that the car would go out of control and mow down 6 bystanders, but the bottom line is, they still allowed a race car that is not legal to operate on a public highway to be operated in an unsafe manner on a public highway (ie - display of tire/spinning, excessive speed). That makes them culpable.

[Tom Vaught]

Brian, if that was really the deal, every cop who has ever let off a guy for lighting up the tires on a country road, would be in jail right now.

Tom V.

[455Grandville]

Originally Posted by Colin

Pretty bad idea to be doing a burnout like that with that car on a crowded public street.

Especially with a very high powered one like that.

[Brian Baker]

Originally Posted by Tom Vaught

Brian, if that was really the deal, every cop who has ever let off a guy for lighting up the tires on a country road, would be in jail right now.

Tom V.

Tom, you are an intelligent man. Surely you KNOW the difference between a cop giving someone a verbal/written warning for a minor infraction of traffic law where nobody was harmed, and a cop giving someone permission to operate an unregistered and "illegal for highway use" race car in the same manner on a public road, which resulted in the death of 6 people?

Just sit back and wait until all the chips fall on the driver, then you'll see the suits filed against the police department, and then possibly the show promoter.

[Region Warrior]

I agree with Brian, every public offical involved is liable.

[Tom Vaught]

I am messing with you Brian! (:>)))))))))))))))))))))))))

You kill someone in an "accident" as a group (in this case the officials, the police, and the driver should all be held accountable.

Tom V.

[krisr]

Yep, the fact they're trying to advocate Troy as the sole person responsible for the tragedy.... total utter horse *****.... the other thing is though, what SENSIBLE parent would take their children to a display like that with out any form of guard rail or protection barrier!?!? As far as i'm concerned, everybody (authorities, participants, officials) AND including the spectators have alot to answer for in this one....