Does the Luge continue in Van? How about Bobsled

[valo403]

A small error should never equal death, at least not due to flying off a track. That is simply not acceptable.

I should add that I don't know how small the error actually was, but I still have to question whether or not such an accident wasn't foreseeable.

[Johnny Canuck]

Originally Posted by valo403

A small error should never equal death, at least not due to flying off a track. That is simply not acceptable.

I should add that I don't know how small the error actually was, but I still have to question whether or not such an accident wasn't foreseeable.

I Agree 100 percent with you. It should never happen. Bottom line. The fact that it did, is really concerning.

[CokeMachineGlow]

Originally Posted by HOOT

No it's not.

Right, they moved it for aesthetic purposes?

[Johnny Canuck]

The one thing I'd like to see changed on all luge tracks around the world is some sort of protective padding on anything that is not ice. I mean, losing control of your body and hitting some sort of protective padding would be infinately better than losing control of your body and hitting a concrete pillar.

It really surprises me that they haven't implemented something like this all over the world on these tracks, especially with the obvious dangers that this sport has.

[carom]

I think this post has no chance of coming off as anything but insensitive, but I have to differ the decision on how to run the event to the experts.

Luge is an inherently dangerous sport. Some sports are like this. Some sports that people have died while/because of participating in other than luge include: most notoriously motor racing, ski racing, boxing, horse racing, rodeo events, rugby, football, soccer, hockey, baseball, and gymnastics. These are all the sports that I know of.

Is it right that these people died? Definitely not, but it does not mean that we should shut the sport down or fundamentally change it on the spot.

All sports evolve for many different reasons.

This event should go on. Don’t forget about this and let the proper authorities make the appropriate changes.

Unfortunately a small mistake can lead to tragedy in the real world also. There is no way to make everything 100% safe. Hopefully you can control the risk that you encounter.

I think the decisions should be made mostly by the coaches, athletes, and the sports federation.

Yes I know that starting a post with: I think this post has no chance of coming off as anything but insensitive is like saying no offense, but … or I don’t want to sound racist but…

[_Q_]

Although I am an Electrical Engineer, not a civil engineer as the people that designed this track probably were, my two cents is this:
During your University education, you are taught to take into account the safety of the public as your number one goal. That means, not a single aspect of the design of your work should compromise safety in order to meet another goal. So in this case, designing a track that makes it more exciting to watch because of unsafe speeds, and not including a sufficiently high wall in order for the cameras to get a good view of the action is in my opinion complete negligence on the Engineer's part. I would expect the team of Engineers that designed this to be out of a job soon as they should be.