Monster Truck

[NoviVespa]

One of those car smashing Monster Trucks ran into a crowd of people.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexican-monster-truck-wreck-kills-hurts-dozens-20485318

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[Jeff Nicol]

There is a video of this out there (just do a search on youtube) and if you were to see it you would know exactly why so many spectators got killed. Safety features for the spectators here was 100% non existent. It almost looked like the event was being held in a junk lot or something. 100's of people are literally standing on the ground 2 truck lengths away from the jump, with the truck jumping directly towards them. Absolutely insane for any promoter to have a set up like this. While I feel bad for those spectators, this simply would not have happened here in the States. An incident like this will be another black mark for all Monster truck events and just add more fuel to the fire for the media.

Seriously, watch the video, you will see exactly what I am talking about.

[Tifositoo]

Various sources are reporting 8-13 killed; death toll may go higher. Driver may have been incapacitated during stunt...obviously the truck was at full throttle when it went into the crowd.


Dan

[Jeff Nicol]

It does not really matter if the driver was incapacitated, had the spectators not been so close, at ground level, with no barrier of any kind between them and the jump 20 yards away, this would not have happened.

Maybe this will get those in Mexico to focus a little bit more on safety in the future.

[NoviVespa]

You guys don't remember the Baha (spelling) races. Those people would stand by the road as the cars were going over 100 mph. Seen videos of people trying to touch the cars as they go by.

[Indyknut]

You guys don't remember the Baha (spelling) races. Those people would stand by the road as the cars were going over 100 mph. Seen videos of people trying to touch the cars as they go by.

That still happens in Rally racing today.

I don't quite understand why the driver is held for possible criminal charges. Seems to me the track owner and promoters bear the responsibility in not providing a safe venue for the fans to view the action from.

[SteveK51]

Don't the american Monster Trucks have a remote kill switch, for just such a situation? At least I recall they did at one time, right?

[Jeff Nicol]

The Monster Jam series, which is the biggest Monster truck group, does use kill switches.

[ACCP]

It's more than that. Almost all American monster trucks run remote kill switches (properly, "Remote Ignition Interrupters" or RII).

There's a whole lot here that's different than how things work up here. The venue, crowd control, the complete lack of any safety controls, etc. etc. Not to mention a truck literally from the mid-80's (the old Fly-N-Hi Toyota) that was built long before real safety came into play. A horrifying situation, but I hope people recognize the differences between this situation in a developing country and the more proper shows here in the States.