Got your attention? This isn't about rocketry.
Recently, an instructor of a student flying
a radio-controlled helicopter was killed when
the rotor plades struck him in the neck
when control was lost of the RC helicopter.
His jugular vein was severed and he bled to death.
This happened in a designated flying area in a
park in Texas.
And yet everyone wants to regulate HPR out
of existence because it is "dangerous."
Perception is everything.
Facts count for nothing.
As far as I know and have been told Rocketry is the SAFEST outdoor
sport/hobby known to man. Every year someone runs a plane into his head or
chest and dies but so far..... (can't bring myself to say the rest but you
know it is true).
Even football (both sides of the Atlantic), baseball and golf are
statistically far more dangerous activities.
Barry
Let's see.....safe as in accidents......I'll look up the numbers if you
really want but how many people are hurt/ killed by simply riding their
bicycle on the street? I fail to see how you take how safe a hobby is,
and turn it into how many people are killed outside a hobby. How many
spectators are killed by football players during a game? None. How
many football players die each year in support of their hobby? About a
dozen.
I'll take it and make it easy. Bicycle riders FILL emergency
rooms.......they rarely run into people.....see the difference? Here's a
list
Baseball players hit batters they are injured.......spectators watch
games and get hurt if they can't catch foul balls
Auto racers are killed in pursuit of their passion.......spectators
(except for very rare instances) watch them kill themselves
LaCrosse players are, at times, parlyzed by hits from
behind........people watching are not, they watch
Soccer goalies are at times killed from ferocious contact( I have video
of this one, makes you sick).....people watching are hurt when the rail
collapses, not from the soccer ball
If those spectating are hurt/killed the hobby will not last
long.......auto racing endures because they kill themselves, not other
people........I really hope you can see the difference...........which
hobby fills the emergency room more? My guess, bicycle peoples.
Football for example:
How many you want to die each year: 0
How many actually die each year: 10
How many would have to die t ban it: undeterminable since it is
determined by mob mentality not fact.
--
Jerry Irvine, Box 1242, Claremont, California 91711 USA
Opinion, the whole thing. <mail to: snipped-for-privacy@gte.net>
When I was in a school at UGA they ran into people all the time. They
would come flying down the hill past the stadium and the student center
and rail into people crossing the street. Vehicular traffic was not
allowed on that road and there were throngs of people going to and fro.
Add silent traffic traveling at +20mph and you get...BLAMMO!
Hey you started it with,".......and the big killer hobby! Bicycle
riding. :-)." I'm just playing along. For the most part motorists,
kill bicyclists, so driving motor vehicles is the killer sport and
bicycling is safe sport that rarely kills incocent victems.
<< If those spectating are hurt/killed the hobby will not last long.......auto
racing endures because they kill themselves, not other people... >>
Accidents DO cause injury and death to spectators at races, even speedboat
races. Not often, but it does happen. Same with many other sports. There have
been spectators killed by hockey pucks, baseballs, and just about any other
object which is thrown or hit in sports. There have been many hunting accidents
causing death or injury to non-participants.
Just as we do in rocketry, these sports take steps to minimize the danger to
spectators, which is why such injuries are infrequent. These measures are
successful most of the time but not all of the time. The same is true of
rocketry. Eventually someone will be seriously hurt or injured in spite of the
precautions. When that happens it should be treated the same as in any of these
other forms of recreation.
1950s--LeMans--77 people killed when a car hits a wall so hard the
engine block flies into the crowd.......steps are taken to protect
spectators
1987(?)--Talladega Alabama--Bobby Allison's car gets sideways and
becomes airborne breaking the 'catch' fencing protecting the
crowd.....sanctioning body mandates aerodynamic devices to prevent high
pressure buildup under the hood of the car
2000 (?) --Charlotte NC---Indy car loses a wheel and two people are
killed.....race is stopped.....sanctioning body requires tethers on all
wheel assemblies
Auto racing is the crucible for disaster/remedy scenarios. Remember
there was a t ime the roll bar wasn't cool.......'real' men didn't need
them......then roll cages were the sign of a true wimp......the machismo
days are over and every sanctioning body is safety conscious. When
disaster occurs to the spectators or participants they react.
Hopefully the safety rules make it possible for a disaster never to
happen in rocketry......but should it happen those who want to keep the
hobby alive will react. Everyone will be safer for it.........
That was 1955, and it wasn't just an engine block, it was an entire
Mercedes 300 SLR that launched tangentially coming down the straight
and flew into the crowd. It caused MB to withdraw from racing for four
decades.
- Jack
Jack Hagerty
ARA Press
www.arapress.com
<< 1950s--LeMans--77 people killed when a car hits a wall so hard the engine
block flies into the crowd...>>
<more racing destruction snipped>
Yep, and let's not forget airshows. Hundreds of spectators have been killed at
airshows. Makes rocketry look about as dangerous a knitting.
Polytechforum.com is a website by engineers for engineers. It is not affiliated with any of manufacturers or vendors discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.