Tony Stewart involved in fatal sprint car incident

[Moxie]

Those are pretty damning pictures (although it's impossible to relate to the speed those cars must be traveling). Even so - walking the track amongst cars on a race circuit IMO is a grave offense. That's not far off actively causing a collision and being a danger/threat to yourself or others. Imagine someone having to take evading messure and then ending in a big accident or a crash, potentially fatal. Stuff like this should be immediately punished - a few race bans, championship disqualification, a hefty fine - what it takes.

I guess it's different in America - as I guess a lot of people grow up with racing and motorsports and it's all a bit different overthere.

Perhaps this Tony Steward / Ward incident is a big wake-up call that something needs to be done about track safety - at the very least where it concerns drivers getting out of cars to confront their nemesis on the track. It's I guess one thing to feel sorry about the victim here - but I don't think Stewart is or wanted to cause this accident and he's as much a victim for having to live with the knowlege that he/his car took a life. Even if he used to be no better at confronting others on the track and getting away with it. Sometimes the hard way to learn something is the only way it sticks.

Keep in mind that we are talking about two different racing series here with two different sets of management. There are dozens of dirt track sprint car series, and I am not sure which one was running the show on tat tragic night. There is precious little television coverage of these events. NASCAR manages several series in the U.S. And in Europe. The Sprint Cup series is the premier stock car series which is televised on most Sunday afternoons during the summer. While NASCAR bears no legal responsibility for the Stewart/Ward incident, it is the series that kids grow up watching as they dream of being like their favorite driver. NASCAR has allowed this behavior for far too long, and it is sad that it took this event to induce a rule change. None-the-less NASCAR has wisened up and made an appropriate change.

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/ ... hange.html

[Richard]

NASCAR has allowed this behavior for far too long, and it is sad that it took this event to induce a rule change. None-the-less NASCAR has wisened up and made an appropriate change.

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/ ... hange.html

Sadly NASCAR actually promoted this behaviour. Here's a video on the official NASCAR youtube account. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwc8obMmv7o

[turbof1]

NASCAR has allowed this behavior for far too long, and it is sad that it took this event to induce a rule change. None-the-less NASCAR has wisened up and made an appropriate change.

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/ ... hange.html

Sadly NASCAR actually promoted this behaviour. Here's a video on the official NASCAR youtube account. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwc8obMmv7o

Holy crap...

There are several things so wrong about that youtube clip:
-The fact that nascar still has this on their channel, despite that they now forbid such actions.
-The way the commentators reacted on this: instead of "what the hell is he going on track", they admired how well his aim was!
-The way the interviewer also commentated on his aiming, and saying he's going to get that helmet back.

Something is really fundamentally wrong over there.

[MOWOG]

News Flash: No criminal charges will be brought against Tony Stewart. It seems toxicology reports on the deceased indicate a significant presence of marijuana.

Case closed.

[Minusprevious]

Would have liked to have been on that grand Jury. Based on the video evidence that I saw, I would have likely found him liable for Wards death. I know Tony's character because its a lot like mine. He appeared to burp his throttle at the kid, probably in an attempt to throw dirt in his face & he went too far.

He got lucky today & will likely face a cival lawsuit

[J.A.W.]

Who 'got lucky'?
The material facts surely don't change 'cause someone liked to get a little high..
Was he shown to be actively high at the time of the incident?
Cannabis metabolites linger in assayable quantities - long after the high is done & gone.
Foolishly wanton disregard of his own safety is clearly the major contributor to what really did him in..

[SectorOne]

News Flash: No criminal charges will be brought against Tony Stewart. It seems toxicology reports on the deceased indicate a significant presence of marijuana.

Case closed.

lol It wasn´t marijuana that made him walk out in a car´s path that´s for sure.
Did they actually make that claim? Amazing if they did.

[Psyclone]

News Flash: No criminal charges will be brought against Tony Stewart. It seems toxicology reports on the deceased indicate a significant presence of marijuana.

Case closed.

lol It wasn´t marijuana that made him walk out in a car´s path that´s for sure.
Did they actually make that claim? Amazing if they did.

http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/09/25/ton ... rand-jury/

This article has a little more information. It says that there was frame-by-frame analysis of more than one video of the incident.
MOWOG's post does make it seem that Stewart was absolved of all responsibility because of Ward's choice of perception altering substance.
If Ward was driving while under the influence, I cannot condone those actions, but governments do have a habit of confusing actives from inactives when it comes to road safety, as shown by people losing their licenses up to a month after using marijuana while obviously not being under the influence. It is like being charges with drink driving because you were drunk, not being drunk.

[Phil]

Would have liked to have been on that grand Jury. Based on the video evidence that I saw, I would have likely found him liable for Wards death. I know Tony's character because its a lot like mine. He appeared to burp his throttle at the kid, probably in an attempt to throw dirt in his face & he went too far.

I don't pretend to know Stewart. That either makes me rather more objective or perhaps naive. Or both.

Hypothetically -
if I was driving down a highway at suboptimal conditions (lets say, it's dark or sunset/sunrise with the sunlight at my 12 o'clock) and a person came running down the road and my evasive maneuver (perhaps badly timed, due to shock, surprise and state of mind) actually caused me to hit him - would I also be liable for his death? What if it weren't suboptimal conditions - but plain broad daylight? Would it make any a difference to my liability towards such a madman?

There a dozens of other examples I can think of where the utter stupidity of people have ended in fatal accidents. A perhaps other example is; cyclists driving during suboptimal conditions without any light on their bike at all. Most probably don't realize it until they've stepped into a car and actually seen how badly visible they are. Yet it happens time and time again - and usually, it's some motorist who will have to live with the consequences - not because they are convicted, but having to live with their concience of killing or badly injuring such a cyclist.

I don't see it much different with Ward. It wasn't Stewart who tracked down Ward on the track to teach him a lesson. It was the other way around. Even if Stewart tried some stupid maneuever to scare him a bit, still doesn't make it manslaughter in my book, but a very unfortunate accident where stupity played a big role in the final outcome. The fact remains though that Ward did the stupidiest thing - he walked into the direct path of these cars.

Now, if Stewart did or did not attempt to make a maneuever to 'scare the kid' - we don't know. I personally think that might be a bit far fetched given he was driving behind another car and most probably saw Stewart too late to react on anything other than pure instinct. Even if he did have enough time; to me it's innocent until proven guilty. And even if he is guilty on those grounds, it doesn't nullfy Wards actions of walking into the paths of cars. The toxicology report doesn't change that of course, but it would go a fair way in explaining his mental state.

[J.A.W.]

Well Phil, evidently your 'naive' view appends to the well known psycho-active (inhibitory) effects of Cannabis..
Now - if Ward had a +ve ETOH blood reading, that'd be more likely - contributory - to his reckless conduct..
But stupid behaviour cannot necessarily be sheeted home to underlying mental pathology..
..maybe it was a "stunt" ( unscripted 'reality', or otherwise) gone wrong?
Who's to know?

[Hobbs04]

Was there an amount ng/ml? Active or inactive metabolite? Just testing + is nothing.

Depending on the time of the sample a reading above 3 ng could be deemed over the legal limit per se in most scientific research. Colorado and Washington have set pretty generous legal limits at 5 ng.

Increased risk taking is a symptom that typically lingers on after the euphoric effect wear off. Studies done on airline pilots showed judgement issues after 24 hours... Just saying.

[Phil]

Depending on the time of the sample a reading above 3 ng could be deemed over the legal limit per se in most scientific research.

Just a minor point, but wouldn't the time of the sample be irrelevant, given its a post mortem toxicology report?

[SectorOne]

http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/09/25/ton ... rand-jury/

That is just mental.

"A toxicology report revealed that the marijuana was “enough to impair judgment” for Ward"

It´s scary how ignorant people are who writes reports. Just shows a complete lack of understanding.
Ward went out there because he was pissed as hell, not because of marijuana or caffeine or whatever other form of drug he had in his blood.

It´s not exactly the first time NASCAR drivers have walked out on track after a crash but then again rationality seems extinct these days.
If you have enough drivers over a certain time walking out on the track, eventually someone will get clipped.
There´s only so many bullets you can dodge.

[turbof1]

http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/09/25/ton ... rand-jury/

That is just mental.

"A toxicology report revealed that the marijuana was “enough to impair judgment” for Ward"

It´s scary how ignorant people are who writes reports. Just shows a complete lack of understanding.
Ward went out there because he was pissed as hell, not because of marijuana or caffeine or whatever other form of drug he had in his blood.

It´s not exactly the first time NASCAR drivers have walked out on track after a crash but then again rationality seems extinct these days.
If you have enough drivers over a certain time walking out on the track, eventually someone will get clipped.
There´s only so many bullets you can dodge.

Yeah, that strikes me too. Now suddenly we are pinning this on soft drugs? What's next, they found too much adrenaline in his body?!?

But hey it's all about the message right? "hey kids, don't do drugs or you'll end up like Ward. If you are going to stand in front of a dangerous car under dangerous circumstances, be clean and you should be safe."

[Richard]

That is just mental.

"A toxicology report revealed that the marijuana was “enough to impair judgment” for Ward"

It´s scary how ignorant people are who writes reports. Just shows a complete lack of understanding.

If it wasn't mentioned then people would complain of a cover up.

Surely a driver with enough marijuana to impair judgement is relevant? It tells the world that this is a race series with drivers smoking dope. It also features drivers regularly walking on track. One fact does not excuse the other, both are stupid.