Paul Bailey's 918 Spyder involved in crash at motor show

[slybynight]

Someone might have said this already - but I haven't seen it...
Those barriers - the red and white plastic ones. I've seen them quite a lot and it was always my assumption that they were filled with water - and I thought they were quite a good idea - lift the lightweight things into position, then fill them with a hosepipe. When finished, drain and carry away. Have I been wrong about these things all along?? I wont be standing behind those again! Full of water, I reckon they would have scrubbed a lot of speed out of that. Empty, you may as well have cardboard barriers.

Somebody else on here mentioned Dunsfold. I cant stand the burning rubber drifting malarky - but the hooliganary that I saw at Dunsfold looked like a multiple fatality waiting to happen - I appreciate they are only doing a few miles an hour, but there's a lot of energy floating about and I heard one tyre explode. - I dread to think what could be flung into the crowd in the event of the blown tyre disintegrating.

Edited by slybynight on Monday 5th October 18:01

[Wacky Racer]

I live in Malta part of the year, and (imo) most of the blame lies with the organisers, and some with Paul Bailey, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

How many times have spectators been killed/injured watching cars speeding past at 100mph on wet mud during rally stages, you only have to have a look on YouTube to see some horrific incidents.

Here's wishing a speedy recovery to all concerned, including Mr Bailey.

[CraigVmax]

Yes those barriers should be filled with water to add weight and absorb impact. Without water they weigh nothing and only serve to demark a boundary.

[mattf93]

Just had a bit of an update the girls condition is improving.
4 in ICU.
10 were due to have operations.
Paul is in Hospital with a fractured skull, and won't be able to fly home for a short while due to the extent of his inuries.

Hoping that everyone pulls through with no lasting damage.

[graeme4130]

footsoldier said:

You can't expect a non-competitive demonstration event to have the same level of safety as a purpose built F1 facility where every millisecond is being fought over. Doesn't mean that precautions were adequate here though.

It's not just F1, but goodwwod, for example, has keen amateur drivers, so provides enough safety protection for the crowd in case something does happen
On a lesser scale, Castle Combe run a similar charity event for supercar owners to give passenger rides for donations, and crowds are kept behind safety barriers
If the venue isn't suitable, or budgets don't allow for proper protection, then perhaps these events shouldn't take place at all

[RoadRunner220]

graeme4130 said:

footsoldier said:

You can't expect a non-competitive demonstration event to have the same level of safety as a purpose built F1 facility where every millisecond is being fought over. Doesn't mean that precautions were adequate here though.

It's not just F1, but goodwwod, for example, has keen amateur drivers, so provides enough safety protection for the crowd in case something does happen
On a lesser scale, Castle Combe run a similar charity event for supercar owners to give passenger rides for donations, and crowds are kept behind safety barriers
If the venue isn't suitable, or budgets don't allow for proper protection, then perhaps these events shouldn't take place at all

Like you say, not just F1, pretty much any racetrack has adequate protection for spectators.

I've taken part in a couple of charity days similar to this at Bruntingthorpe. The only area the public are allowed is in what is essentially the pits, where drivers can pick up paid customers for a blast at high speed down the runway. On the runway, and the part of the 'track' leading to and from the main straight, no spectators are allowed anywhere near.

This incident seems like a tragic accident, but watching the video I was a little surprised at how close the crowd were to the 'track', and also how the barriers appeared only to be there to keep people from getting on track rather than to stop cars from going into the crowd should an incident occur.

Thoughts very much with all involved, and that includes the driver, I can't imagine how he must be feeling, and I hope all have a full and swift recovery.

[topless360]

PorkInsider said:

and has a penchant for utterly chav illegally spaced number plates, is certainly not trying to avoid the limelight.

Some of the comments on this thread are just ridiculous. Chip on your shoulder?

[PorkInsider]

topless360 said:

PorkInsider said:

and has a penchant for utterly chav illegally spaced number plates, is certainly not trying to avoid the limelight.

Some of the comments on this thread are just ridiculous. Chip on your shoulder?

Chip on my shoulder?

[Wills2]

Tragic for all involved including the driver, although perhaps this is one reasons why a lot of wealthy owners let professionals drive their cars at public events if they aren't of a similar standard themselves.

[mwstewart]

I wish all involved a speedy recovery.

Risk at these events should be evaluated by all who attend - we are all responsible for our own (or minors') safety.

[deltashad]

RutlandWebster said:

Seconded, naturally - We're all entitled to discuss all aspects of this at length, but like any decent person, I hope everyone involved recovers quickly from this nasty business.

hmmm.... sounded to me like you were singling the guy out for being an unwelcome incomer in your little village.
With reference to your earlier post, when the guy is probably at the lowest point of his life is pretty stty.


I have a lot of friends in Malta who regularly hit the airfield with their cars, the scene is really good there. A lot of car enthusiasts on a tiny island with terrible roads.

[darreni]

Seems to be a lot of venom & not much compassion on here.
Some posters should take take the time to re read their own comments.

Edited by darreni on Tuesday 6th October 04:49

[dr_gn]

I'm intrigued by the "charity" aspect of this (it was reported as such and presumably people pay for a ride?). I mean, how much - in the name of charity - would it cost to get that thing to Malta and back in the first place?

[spadgm]

I felt sick to my stomach when I saw the video.
Such a dreadful thing to happen when these events are supposed to be good fun for people to see what these cars are like.
Hope Paul and everyone else caught up in this has a quick recovery.

[deltashad]

dr_gn said:

I'm intrigued by the "charity" aspect of this (it was reported as such and presumably people pay for a ride?). I mean, how much - in the name of charity - would it cost to get that thing to Malta and back in the first place?

Possibly he was in Malta on holiday and decided to take part?

[JKDesign80]

deltashad said:

dr_gn said:

I'm intrigued by the "charity" aspect of this (it was reported as such and presumably people pay for a ride?). I mean, how much - in the name of charity - would it cost to get that thing to Malta and back in the first place?

Possibly he was in Malta on holiday and decided to take part?

Here's a Interview with him before the accident, which explains why he took part...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2015/oct/05...

[NRS]

Muzzer79 said:

Schermerhorn said:

If I had raised concerns about the safety but was told to 'press on sir, give the crowd a show, there is plenty of run off and it will be OK' I simply would not have driven the car. Crowd safety is no joke, especially when there is a lack of barriers and lots of people standing in one place. No one can hold a gun to your head and make you do something you do not want to do.

A noble sentiment with hindsight, but unless there's something glaringly obvious in terms of poor safety provision, how do you know to raise it?

Nothing in that video safety-facility wise would have stopped me driving the car at the time. It's easy now to say that the crowd are too close and the barriers too poor, but these things don't enter your head before a tragedy like this occurs.

Crowd safety is the domain of the organiser - they should have people with appropriate knowledge to organise it and, as a driver, you trust that.

The other thing is the spectators can do their own risk assessment. It seems to not have been the first time he (and others?) had gone round. If the spectators think the risk is too high then they should move away too. Seems like too many people assuming everything would be ok and so when the accident happened it has unfortunately ended up like this. Ironically enough yesterday I had come back from an event where people were told to leave quietly, but someone in a Ferrari when pulling onto the street went very sideways and a little more and they would have been in the crowd of people taking pictures by the road. It was stupid of the person, but people watching had done nothing to protect themselves if someone was stupid.

[V8FGO]

dr_gn said:

I'm intrigued by the "charity" aspect of this (it was reported as such and presumably people pay for a ride?). I mean, how much - in the name of charity - would it cost to get that thing to Malta and back in the first place?

Nice drive down Sicily , then ferry from Pozzallo to Valletta.

But then it looks like he had the P1 there too. So perhaps charter plane down.
Not dissimilar to the Gumaball events. Cost 30-50k at a guess.

[mattf93]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2015/oct/05...

Interview before the crash - for the judgemental ones its a brief look into his views.

An update on Pauls Health - He is currently in hospital with a fractured skull and won't be able to fly home for a little while.

In regards to others I am led to believe that 4 are now critical (1 injured person has become stable).
There were due to be 8 operations today to various injured people.

(this was from reading a maltese article earlier today...

[Ollywood]

NRS said:

The other thing is the spectators can do their own risk assessment. It seems to not have been the first time he (and others?) had gone round. If the spectators think the risk is too high then they should move away too. Seems like too many people assuming everything would be ok and so when the accident happened it has unfortunately ended up like this. Ironically enough yesterday I had come back from an event where people were told to leave quietly, but someone in a Ferrari when pulling onto the street went very sideways and a little more and they would have been in the crowd of people taking pictures by the road. It was stupid of the person, but people watching had done nothing to protect themselves if someone was stupid.

Well each time an emergency vehicle passes there seems to be a LOT of people not doing risk assessments!!! it's quite amazing how few people get killed everyday by flashing cars.... Unfortunately we do live in a nanny state and people are on auto pilot expecting others to take resposibility.