as per the news article

Spectator Dies At Llangollen DH Race

I’d heard that there’d been an injury, but as lowey says in the comments to hear that the spectator has died is awful news. Thoughts go out to friends, family, the rider who crashed and the riders and other spectators and organisers

That’s horrific, just not what you expect.

Blimey! Very sad news…

I wonder if this might have an effect on how BC commissars do their assessment’s of DH tracks?

i.e. looking more at safe/unsafe positions for spectators and preventing them from positioning themselves in harms way, rather than focusing primarily on the rider’s safety on the course…

are organisers going to have to risk assess and designate “safe” spectating positions…

cookeaa – Member
Blimey! Very sad news…

I wonder if this might have an effect on how BC commissars do their assessment’s of DH tracks?Sad news indeed.

However, I hope there is not too drastic a change on spectating. I think the accessibility and grass-roots feel of even national events is a great part of the appeal. It is tragic that someone is hurt, let alone killed, but implementing wholesale changes on the basis of a single incident would be unfortunate. In any case, how to do it with any meaningful reduction of risk, without excluding spectators to the very fringes of the sport?

It was the rider that collided with the spectator not the bike.

He had no chance in missing her, I feel so so sorry for him.

My heartfelt condolences to the Family, Boyfriend and friends of Judith RIP

It is very sad news but I hope it doesn’t impact on spectating.

I’ve spent years watching rallies. Everyone has always understood that the best place to get a good view/photo/video is on the outside of corners yet this is also the most dangerous place you can spectate from. Thankfully, despite numerous incidents over the years, organisers have not felt the need to stop this practice – perhaps BC can/should follow suit.

Watching the World Champ it seemed they used a double taped aproach, with spectators behind a second line of tape. However in the woods there were lots of folks right against the tapes, one or two even getting clobbered by crashing bikes. Wonder what the policy was there and if maybe in that situation the spectators had gone inside the tapes but marshals did not keep them clear. Very sad to hear of this terrible incident, hopefully lessons learned can be implemented without impeding the fun and excitement of watching DH (or any cycle event, since this could happen anywhere we race).

Horrible, utterly horrible for all involved, RIP Judith.

Whilst I expect there will be a full investigation into how this happened I sincerely hope we don’t see any knee-jerk overreactions.

Our national DH series is the envy of the world and has become a prime proving ground for some incredible athletes, it would be a crying shame if a one-off freak accident, no matter how tragic, affected this.

@digga, I agree,

That you can rock up, find a spot on the hillside, shout abuse at stranger’s on bikes and it’s free has to be one of the major benefits.

Compared with something like Rally, watching DH is relatively safe, this sad event is definitely an exception…

A terrible accident and my heart goes out to all involved.

But, we don’t need a Daily mail style witch hunt and banning of everything just in case!

Statistically more people are killed or injured driving to an event to spectate, and from just “slipping and falling” whilst spectating than by being hit by a competitor or their bike.
This is the first death of a spectator i have ever heard of in the history of the sport is it not?

It’s happened in road cycling, but yeah, I’ve never heard of it happening in DH.

But, we don’t need a Daily mail style witch hunt and banning of everything just in case!

TBF I don’t think we’re likely to see that.
But BC will have to investigate the event.
I would expect as a result there will be additional guidance for all MTB event organisers for 2015/16 on how they might define positions for spectators, or ways try to keep those watching out of potentially “dangerous” areas.

Having said that, we don’t know the specifics of this incident, so perhaps it is a bit too soon to start speculating…

I would imagine any constraints were more likely to come from event insurers than BC directly.

40mpg – Member
I would imagine any constraints were more likely to come from event insurers than BC directly.

Could very well be the case.

TBH, from a rider’s point of view, you’d never want to be in the position of worrying about hitting spectators. However, my experience from very low-key DH events is that having ‘rules’ is one thing, but getting people – spectators, or fellow competitors – to understand the reason for them, let alone to stick to them, is going to be tough.

Condolences to both the specatator’s family and the rider.

Very sad news. The chances of this happening are slim, but it has happened, and that is not good.

Let’s hope that there is no overreaction to this by anyone.

Thoughts with the rider and the family of the deceased, knowing it was an accident will probably not be any consolation right now.

mrphil

The stem and head tube hit the girl and then the rider followed. It’s an absolute tragedy for all involved and a complete fluke accident.

Apologies, from where I was standing I must of been out of view by the tree.

I agree it is heart breaking fluke accident for all involved.

it’s a terrible accident and my thoughts are with everyone involved

there will be an inquest and that will probably determine whether there is a bigger issue for BC/ the organisers

there may be a criminal prosecution based on the findings of the inquest

in a different sport (no intended comment on what went wrong here)
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/3191261.Safety_at_Whitworth_quarry__inadequate_/

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/judge-slams-shambolic-quarry-safety-880781

as an sport it’s the worst thing that could happen

again, my thoughts with everyone affected

I would suggest that for all involved that comments are limited and direct/ indirect witnesses make contact with the police/ coroner rather than posting on the internet

digga – Member

TBH, from a rider’s point of view, you’d never want to be in the position of worrying about hitting spectators. However, my experience from very low-key DH events is that having ‘rules’ is one thing, but getting people – spectators, or fellow competitors – to understand the reason for them, let alone to stick to them, is going to be tough.

As a marshall, getting people to stay off the track is a total pain in the arse. “But I want a picture of my mate” “But I’m not in the way”, “But I’ve got rights” and really no practical recourse if anyone decides not to listen to you. Not suggesting anything of the sort happened here, but it’s an issue for crowd control in general. I clipped a photographer in an XC race once, he said “You were going too fast!”

Incredibly sad news.

In addition to thoughts for the bereaved also think about the organisers and marshals, many of whom are volunteers who turn up on the day. I know the individual who was first on scene and it was a horrific thing to have to deal with.

As Northwind says trying keep the public safe is a thankless task at the best of times, having to fully tape and barrier courses would be impractical at this level. As big n daft says lets leave the investigations to the professionals and rely on them to review the incident and make appropriate recommendations.

Next time someone starts a thread on here asking why race entries cost so much bear in mind a lot is already done to prevent these sort of incidents and to have facilities in place if something does happen.