Fatality reported at Richard Petty Experience

[jagfanjosh3252]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-richard-petty-fatality-20150412-story.html

 

[luvpooh]

Terrible to hear.
So if the person was a passenger, does that mean the driver is an employee of the track, or do they offer a program where you can drive and have a passenger as well?

 

[LaurenT]

You can either drive or you can have a professional drive and ride shotgun....

 

[CAS239]

Sounds like it was the CM that passed away.

Richard petty driving experience- you either ride shotgun with a CM, or drive the car yourself with a CM sitting passenger

Exotic driving experience- you drive an exotic car with a CM in the passenger seat.

It happened in a lambo so the CM should have been the passenger with a guest driving the car losing control.

I'm hoping this doesn't speed up the closing of the track because I'm going to be driving one of the Lambos here pretty soon

 

[kmb584]

How awful.

 

[aaarcher86]

Terrible.

Never been a fan of this attraction to be honest. Just seems incredibly dangerous.

 

[mousehockey37]

Sounds like it was the CM that passed away.

Richard petty driving experience- you either ride shotgun with a CM, or drive the car yourself with a CM sitting passenger

Exotic driving experience- you drive an exotic car with a CM in the passenger seat.

It happened in a lambo so the CM should have been the passenger with a guest driving the car losing control.

I'm hoping this doesn't speed up the closing of the track because I'm going to be driving one of the Lambos here pretty soon

We're unlikely to know for a little while yet. It sounds that way though, and upon looking on youtube at some videos, the cars are not nearly equipped enough to deal with a crash over 65mph, let alone over 100. You just wear an open face helmet, and that's it. The seats are not racing seats with headrestraints and the seat belts are just seemingly upgraded seat belts.

I don't see why 1 accident with a fatality would close the speedway prematurely, but it doesn't help the cause either.

It's a sad situation that someone lost control of a high end car on an enclosed course and they hit a guardrail and someone lost their life. For instructors, this is a known every time they get in a car with a new guest and for the guest, this is why you sign a waiver before you ever step foot near a car.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

How sad! We heard fire sirens very clearly around that time. Something I have never heard at Disney while in the parks. (We were at EPCOT around Italy and had just came out from
Lunch around 3:30ish.)

 

[larryz]

Terrible.

Never been a fan of this attraction to be honest. Just seems incredibly dangerous.

A very high risk, especially with an untrained driver at the wheel.

Prayers and condolences for the affected family.

 

[cgattis]

Sounds like it was the CM that passed away.

Richard petty driving experience- you either ride shotgun with a CM, or drive the car yourself with a CM sitting passenger

Exotic driving experience- you drive an exotic car with a CM in the passenger seat.

It happened in a lambo so the CM should have been the passenger with a guest driving the car losing control.

I'm hoping this doesn't speed up the closing of the track because I'm going to be driving one of the Lambos here pretty soon

I wouldn't be too surprised if it doesn't reopen after this. If so, maybe you could do it at Daytona instead.

So sad for the CM (and family). Also for the driver, who I'm sure will be forever changed by it

 

[DOOM1001]

I did the ride along in the traditional stock cars and asked the driver how fast we would get up to,he said about 140mph,how fast are these exotic cars going?I know in the stock car we wore the race suit and helmet and were put in the HANS device with the safety harness.How do the exotic cars compare as far as safety and speed.

 

[mousehockey37]

I did the ride along in the traditional stock cars and asked the driver how fast we would get up to,he said about 140mph,how fast are these exotic cars going?I know in the stock car we wore the race suit and helmet and were put in the HANS device with the safety harness.How do the exotic cars compare as far as safety and speed.

Nowhere close. Open face helmet and seat belt. You also don't follow the traditional left turn path of the speedway, you go on a backwards road course. The :49 second mark off to the right is where they hit.

 

[mummabear]

DH has done this several times.
The instructors are very clear that any failure to follow instructions(such as slow down) will result in the experience ending immediately. Obviously barring massive mechanical failure the driver has misjudged their speed or the corner
Feel so sorry for both the driver and the family of the passenger, even though we are aware of the risks it feels so unlikely to happen.

 

[robinb]

Nowhere close. Open face helmet and seat belt. You also don't follow the traditional left turn path of the speedway, you go on a backwards road course. The :49 second mark off to the right is where they hit.

So he lost control coming out of the turn?

I heard this on the news all the way up in Wisconsin. Thoughts going out to the driver and the passenger's family. How terrible .

 

[mousehockey37]

So he lost control coming out of the turn?

I heard this on the news all the way up in Wisconsin. Thoughts going out to the driver and the passenger's family. How terrible .

From the video I saw from the news in Orlando (overhead news chopper footage) and the video I posted of the ride taken prior, it seems likely that's what happened. What regular drivers don't understand is that the faster you go, the easier it will be for any small thing to upset the car. So if he came out of the corner and went to go to the inside (which you have to, to make the next turn), he could've had started turning, hit a bump going X mph and it upset the car and threw it sideways and you can see (if you go to the Orlando news links) the skid marks going into the guard rail. He also did hit a patch of (what seems wet) grass, which would've sped up the car and made it seem like he was on ice (albeit for a split second), but that would've been enough time to turn the car, if he was trying to correct it.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

If you look at the videos and pictures, this is a tragic terrible freak accident. The experience is relatively safe. Probably safer than driving on I4. If a car loses control it would generally hit the wall at an angle, slide down the wall and there would be no major injury. The car happened to lose control and strike at one of the very few small openings in the inner wall. And the car hit right on the end of the wall at the opening. At an angle right on the passengers side. The car isn't even crushed or misshapen. The odds of hitting this particular spot in this way are very, very, low. But it doesn't matter now. Someone is dead, his family is mourning, and the drivers life is altered forever. Prayers for all involved.

 

[CAS239]

I did the ride along in the traditional stock cars and asked the driver how fast we would get up to,he said about 140mph,how fast are these exotic cars going?I know in the stock car we wore the race suit and helmet and were put in the HANS device with the safety harness.How do the exotic cars compare as far as safety and speed.

You can generally get up to about 100mph, sometimes maybe slightly over. But not too fast. You do it for the chance to just try an exotic car, not the speed..anyone can hit 100, but not in a gtr or lambo lol

Instead of closing down the track I wish Disney would open up an airport style straightaway and let you open the cars up to some high speeds. But I know that wouldn't happen lol

 

[CAS239]

And also if they can tell you're not an experienced driver then they can turn down the hp within the car.

It's definitely a freak accident since everything going on is a really controlled environment

 

[mousehockey37]

And also if they can tell you're not an experienced driver then they can turn down the hp within the car.

It's definitely a freak accident since everything going on is a really controlled environment

There's only so much they can do though. At some point, you're just along for the ride, no matter how experienced or inexperienced you are. They could set the car up seeing you're able to handle the speed and hp, but as I've said elsewhere, if not on here, that all you need to do is hit a bump going faster than you think and the car is going to react.

 

[soniam]

Terrible.

Never been a fan of this attraction to be honest. Just seems incredibly dangerous.

Autoracing and driving cars at tracks, similar to this, are actually safer than most people's daily commutes. DH does amateur autoracing, and we both used to do track events in our street cars. No one has been killed in any of the classes at his races or at any of the track events we have done. There have been two broken legs. Granted, race cars and track-prepped cars do have better safety features, ie roll bars/cages, racing seats with 5+ point harnesses, full face helmets, fire proof racing clothes, and neck-brace devices (like HANS). Race tracks also have limited entrances and exits. What scares me more is not events like this, but the fact that we drive around in cars every day at pretty high speeds, with untrained and distracted drivers, possible poor brakes, tires, steering, and suspension, without proper safety equipment and gear.

I feel bad for the victim's family, especially if he was an employee. I feel bad for the driver too, because he will have to live with the guilt.