Idaho 2014

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hoche
However, if a car has spun and is blocking the stage and everyone is ok, that is NOT a red cross situation. That's just...well, it sucks, but the stage is still hot. The subsequent competitors have every right to just work together to toss the car off a cliff or whatever and then hop in and keep going.

We had a stage like that at Magnum Opus on Saturday. Subaru hit a tree, everybody out and OK. Next car comes and is able to squeeze through (damn tiny Beetle). Then the normal size cars show up and realize stage is blocked. After 4 cars stop, there were enough people to move the car and we all crawl back in and try to race to the finish.

No red cross was displayed. But it was also in a relatively good spot where somebody was able to run up the road at the end of a long straight and clearly indicate we needed to stop (hand waving, standing in the middle of the road).

Of course, they ended up tossing that stage anyways.

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Morison
This is one of the reasons CARS looked at real-time satellite tracking and car to car status update systems, and RallySafe in particular. In the end, it's too expensive to implement without some outside funding to support it. (~$120/entry) But the picture of what's happening at an event is so very much clearer and is 'real time.'

So, have any organizers looked at the Spot satellite services? A one time $100 purchase for each unit and "real time" tracking for $100/yr or much less for just the SOS service (or maybe a special deal can be made with Spot?). IIRC, you can specify a third party (Net Control?) to receive notice of any SOS activation. Maybe there are practicalities that prohibit their usage . . .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2014 05:07PM by corax.

Going back to the image shown earlier of the VW with an OK sign strapped to the back, check out our onboard footage starting at 11:15 as we nearly hit their car with no triangles, nobody in sight, but OK sign on bumper.





As a competitor, my first instinct was that they were OK but idiots for not putting out their triangles. Looking back, they might not have been OK, the sign may have been fixed to the hatch when something worse happened later down stage. We should have stopped and either told them to put down triangles, or put some there for them. We discovered later they were having engine troubles. Not trying to shame anyone, just shedding light.

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"Just add more 'Stop-Leak', it's a Duratec, it'll be fine..."

Was the car abandoned, or did they get moving and come in right on your heels? It may've been that they'd just finished buckling up and were waiting for you to go by before proceeding.

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Self-righteous douche canoe

A few cars ahead of us that we spoke with said they came across he same thing, so likely not.

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"Just add more 'Stop-Leak', it's a Duratec, it'll be fine..."

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corax
So, have any organizers looked at the Spot satellite services? A one time $100 purchase for each unit and "real time" tracking for $100/yr or much less for just the SOS service (or maybe a special deal can be made with Spot?). IIRC, you can specify a third party (Net Control?) to receive notice of any SOS activation. Maybe there are practicalities that prohibit their usage . . .

Yes, a while ago we looked at a range of services.
What spot misses in all of this is car to car notifications and automated SOS signalling in a heavy impact. It is also Globalstar based, which means the coverage sucks. (There is a similar device that uses Iridium sats though)
We put everything through a cost of ownership spreadsheet assuming 3 years of operating the system and 3 events per unit and the actual cost per event came up fairly quickly. I don't have those numbers in front of me, but I recall it being ~$40/event-ish, but you got FAR less than 1/3 of the functionality.

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First Rally: 2001
Driver (7), Co-Driver (44)
Drivers (16)
Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4)
Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0)
Last Updated, January 4, 2015

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john vanlandingham
Blame is for idiots. losers.

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Dirt McGirt
A few cars ahead of us that we spoke with said they came across he same thing, so likely not.

Ok, thanks. I'll make sure the steward hears about it. That's gotta be addressed.



As for the other incident, I was listening on the radio at the time it happened and I thought it was handled pretty well by the radio staff. Of course I wasn't out in the field. The big concern for me is why the two other competitors passed without stopping, and I know that's being looked into.

Joel, I'm perturbed to hear that after you were redcrossed you were allowed to just proceed down the road, as I know there was word out on the net to hold all the competitors so the EMT could get there. In retrospect it was a good thing that you did, but that's not kosher.

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Self-righteous douche canoe

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aj_johnson
Chris I was really looking forward to hearing a flat six out on stage...

You didn't hear the rear engine aircooled one?

The legacy will live shortly. It's mostly assembled, wiring is getting resorted, but I am taking my time and making things pretty too. I'll be at Hood to finish what I started there 3 years ago. Not letting that rally beat ME.

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Brap Brap.

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hoche

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Dirt McGirt
A few cars ahead of us that we spoke with said they came across he same thing, so likely not.

Ok, thanks. I'll make sure the steward hears about it. That's gotta be addressed.



As for the other incident, I was listening on the radio at the time it happened and I thought it was handled pretty well by the radio staff. Of course I wasn't out in the field. The big concern for me is why the two other competitors passed without stopping, and I know that's being looked into.

Joel, I'm perturbed to hear that after you were redcrossed you were allowed to just proceed down the road, as I know there was word out on the net to hold all the competitors so the EMT could get there. In retrospect it was a good thing that you did, but that's not kosher.

At that time I don't believe they even Knew what was going on. It was a Marshall with a FRS Radio that stopped us. EMT's weren't dispatched for another 20 minutes of us arriving on scene.

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john vanlandingham

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Morison
Just today I had a vistor here from Quebec

Aren't you the person who bitches incessantly about people not using names? Ya, kind of what I thought. You go troll elsewhere Junior Varsity

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Dirt McGirt
Going back to the image shown earlier of the VW with an OK sign strapped to the back, check out our onboard footage starting at 11:15 as we nearly hit their car with no triangles, nobody in sight, but OK sign on bumper.





As a competitor, my first instinct was that they were OK but idiots for not putting out their triangles. Looking back, they might not have been OK, the sign may have been fixed to the hatch when something worse happened later down stage. We should have stopped and either told them to put down triangles, or put some there for them. We discovered later they were having engine troubles. Not trying to shame anyone, just shedding light.

I'm going to say you did the correct thing. The OK was displayed. Triangles should have been, car could have been further to the right also. YOU don't know how far behind the next car is for sure. If you stop, we have two cars stopped with no triangles at that moment. There was good visibility thankfully but it could easily snowball into ugly. Lots to go over at the drivers meetings in the future.

A couple of quick comments:

An anual worker training day sponsored by competitors would be a great idea. I once wanted to publish a worker training pamphlet. I didn't then and don't now have time. Maybe a simple laminated sheet is a good first step. I would help pay for that.

I was thinking about the Spot Locator Beacons. Maybe not a bad idea. Something is better than nothing. The coverage is ok in the continental US.

Even though I had an rough idea where the wreck was I didn't see the car until it was right next to us!

Merrilee, I waved at you when we passed!

Gene, I am adding more padding to the forward part of my door bars. The though of my knee hitting those tubes.....

The crew of the Golf in question were wound a bit tight.

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Robert.

"You are way too normal to be on Rally Anarchy." Eddie Fiorelli.

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Rallyst165
At that time I don't believe they even Knew what was going on. It was a Marshall with a FRS Radio that stopped us. EMT's weren't dispatched for another 20 minutes of us arriving on scene.

I know the EMT was dispatched as within a minute or two of the time the red cross was announced on the radio. The ambulance wasn't dispatched until later, but the EMT was on the move pretty quickly.

Now, I don't know how long it took news to get to Net Control, or where the EMT was stationed or what route they took, but they were definitely dispatched promptly.

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Self-righteous douche canoe

The EMT was dispatched once the Tabor's got to the scene and Kristen got on the radio as far as I know. They were several cars behind us and also got stopped by the same Marshall and were told to transit the stage. They were dispatched promptly and got there very fast once that happened. The ambulance was several minutes behind them.

Oh, I see. What is sounds like is maybe the general call didn't actually get to Net Control until after the Tabors got there. That would indeed be kind of a problem.

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Self-righteous douche canoe