Comments for "Roger Williamson Fatal Crash" Video at VideoSift.com

By critttter

critttter (http://www.videosift.com/member/critttter) — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:29:05 -0700

Oh, I'm sure a fuckin' medal made up for everything.

By Kevlar

Kevlar (http://www.videosift.com/member/Kevlar) — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:14:33 -0700

Awful. Just awful. I'm normally not one to knock a video like this onto the front page but it's definitely a deserving sift. Thanks for posting it, Nygma.

By Enzoblue

Enzoblue (http://www.videosift.com/member/Enzoblue) — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:32:26 -0700

Cowards anger me. Those guys were probably thinking that if they make the slightest attempt to help then they're committed and responsible for the outcome. Fucking sheep. Can't even put aside their fear/selfishness long enough to save a man's life.

Side note: Pathetic that the guy who made this clip felt the need to put it to music.

By sepatown

sepatown (http://www.videosift.com/member/sepatown) — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:24:07 -0700

Purley is the only one with a race suit and gloves to protect him from the heat remember. i mean, i watch it and wished they'd tried harder, for longer, but it's a few hundred kilo's of burning metal and rubber they're trying to push...without any safety gear.

the fire truck couldn't get there because the race was still going and the race was still going because the stewards made a monumental error in thinking it was only Purley who had crashed (and it was only his car on fire). Williamson and Purley were in the same team and were running together on the track. they failed to notice the other car (Purley's) on the left hand side.

without the fire steward and his truck the only real hope for Williamson was another driver stopping. but none of them knew what was going on. obviously a lot of them have spoken of a deep regret for not doing so.

unfortunately F1 safety in the past worked a little like airline safety in that it takes some horrible event to get things changed/ improved.

one of the other drivers:

Denny Hulme: One of the problems may have been that the drivers were unaware of the seriousness of the accident; I certainly never knew that anyone was still in the burning car until after I had retired in the pits. When I came past the first time I saw the car on fire and David Purley brushing flames off himself and my initial reaction was that he had crashed and had managed to get out of the car OK, but when he was still there struggling two laps later I started to wonder. It never occurred to me that it was his car stopped on the other side of the road. I just presumed that there had been a two-car accident and that David had climbed out of the burning car, Initially the fire was small and the flame was low, blowing sideways as though a petrol line had severed and with the pump still on it was feeding flame out sideways like an acetylene torch. If Purley had had assistance as soon as he arrived, Roger could probably have been rescued. As it turned out, it was a complete disaster. The first truck took some eight minutes to arrive after driving round most of the track while the other truck stood 150 yards away and did nothing. I simply fail to understand it.

By RhesusMonk

RhesusMonk (http://www.videosift.com/member/RhesusMonk) — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:48 -0700

Unfuckingbelievable. Sad. Makes me hate people a little bit more.

By Trancecoach

Trancecoach (http://www.videosift.com/member/Trancecoach) — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:41:56 -0700

You mean people DIE when they combust incinerants to fuel a steel box while driving at speeds excessive of 120 MPH?!? My, my -- and I guess next you're gonna tell me that bull riding, supercross, or BASE jumping are dangerous!

No sympathy for the bloke who chooses to drive 200 MPH in a f*&king circle.

By sepatown

sepatown (http://www.videosift.com/member/sepatown) — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:55:40 -0700

comment downvoted? well excuse me for trying to shed some light on the situation.

By BoneyD

BoneyD (http://www.videosift.com/member/BoneyD) — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:59:38 -0700

I fail to see why your comment was downvoted, sepatown. Just because the reasons for the safety team's lack of reaction are not favourable, doesn't make them any less true...

I can see how the confusion occurred there with that explanation. But you would assume a lot was learned from such a heavy toll.