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OorPancake t1_ja20911 wrote

There's a good documentary called Deadliest Crash: The Le Mans 1955 Disaster the BBC made about it, it was horrific. (14 of the casualties were decapitated.)

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Senna_65 t1_ja20td2 wrote

As a result, Mercedes pulled out of motorsport entirely for 30 years and Switzerland banned motorsports all-together. It was a horrific crash

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Toddlez t1_ja21bcd wrote

The real crazy part is that the race wasn't stopped.

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dishonourableaccount t1_ja2bynt wrote

Replying to TimTimmington (#2,018,410)

Yeah there wasn’t a single viewing area- besides the grandstand where the disaster took place spectators lined up all along the course. The course included some local roads that were blocked off for the race.

Organizers reasoned that if the race was called off, everyone would leave at once, and no one would be able to use the roads to get medical care in and out.

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my4coins t1_ja2gv4m wrote

TIL that the top killing rate by race car driver is 84 to 1.

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Admetus t1_ja2p9oa wrote

It always takes an accident to lead to higher safety standards.

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on_ t1_ja2s0zf wrote

The fuel fire raised the temperature of the remaining Elektron bodywork past its ignition temperature, which was lower than that of other metal alloys due to its high magnesium content. The alloy burst into white-hot flames, showering the track and crowd with magnesium embers, made worse by rescue workers unfamiliar with magnesium fires who poured water onto the inferno, greatly intensifying the fire.[14][9] As a result, the car burned for several hours.

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The_Presitator t1_ja2u7h8 wrote

There is an excellent engineering disaster podcast that did an episode of this. "Well there's your problem" is the name and they're hilarious if you don't mind them getting off topic occasionally.

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AvonMexicola t1_ja2vtwk wrote

Note the row of people being decapitated by a car hood.

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Barkinsons t1_ja2zlqe wrote

Replying to Senna_65 (#2,017,285)

Interestingly, Switzerland banned round-course races, but not hill challenges. Basically, races where the Start and Finish are not in the same place are still allowed. The ban was lifted in 2022.

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IdiotCow t1_ja390ax wrote

Replying to dishonourableaccount (#2,019,053)

It's the same reason why the NFL didn't cancel the Bills/Bengals game right away after Damar Hamlin almost died on the field this past year. It would have made it difficult for the ambulance to get in and get out, so they canceled it after he was taken out

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Fit_Pineapple_7828 t1_ja5yhxw wrote

Replying to IdiotCow (#2,024,723)

He was off the field 15-20 minutes after the incident. They didn’t even talk about cancelling the game until after he was gone. They canceled almost an hour and a half after he collapsed and the teams had gone back into the locker room to discuss it. Fans watched the ambulance come on the field in disbelief. Not really the same at all, the NFL hadn’t had anything like this happen and didn’t know what to do and frankly didn’t want to cancel such a highly touted prime time matchup.

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laziestindian t1_ja6bh9r wrote

Replying to ghilliesniper522 (#2,044,250)

The Trump administration is the one who removed the regulation after the Obama added it.

Trump probably didn't really give two shits about most of what he signed as President but he's just as responsible as the other Republicans who voted the change through.

Republican governor DeWine is also the one who refused federal aid from Biden going to the affected area.

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