Man Dies at Richard Petty Driving Experience - Exotic Cars

[Yellowstonetim]

'This is sad:

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

A 36-year-old Davenport man died today after a Lamborghini in which he was riding lost control at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Walt Disney World.

Prayers for the passenger's family and the driver. When the driver lost control of the Lamborghini, the car struck the end of a barrier at just the wrong location and angle on the passenger's side. I wonder if this will close the experience early. It is scheduled to close in June anyway.

 

[mousehockey37]

'This is sad:

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

A 36-year-old Davenport man died today after a Lamborghini in which he was riding lost control at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Walt Disney World.

Prayers for the passenger's family and the driver. When the driver lost control of the Lamborghini, the car struck the end of a barrier at just the wrong location and angle on the passenger's side. I wonder if this will close the experience early. It is scheduled to close in June anyway.

Already got a thread going:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/fa...chard-petty-experience.3399540/#post-53435192

 

[rteetz]

Was just about to post this here is another link from WESH news

http://m.wesh.com/news/fhp-confirms...2+news&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=dlvr.it

 

[rteetz]

Already got a thread going:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/fa...chard-petty-experience.3399540/#post-53435192

No reason why we can't have a second in the news board

 

[mousehockey37]

No reason why we can't have a second in the news board

There's too many different boards here where the same topic can be discussed...

 

[rteetz]

There's too many different boards here where the same topic can be discussed...

The theme park strategies board is where strategies and theme park things should be discussed, this board is for news and rumors it pretty simple. Either way this sucks for the person and their family. It's unclear whether it's an instructor or guest who was killed. This track does not have all the proper safety features of a normal nascar or Indy race track. The track is also slated to close August 9th.

 

[mousehockey37]

The theme park strategies board is where strategies and theme park things should be discussed, this board is for news and rumors it pretty simple. Either way this sucks for the person and their family. It's unclear whether it's an instructor or guest who was killed. This track does not have all the proper safety features of a normal nascar or Indy race track. The track is also slated to close August 9th.

We'll know more in detail once things are released. I'm well aware that track was not "up-to-code" for the major touring racing series. I'm still surprised that seeing youtube videos that all you really wore was an open face helmet and a somewhat possibly "upgraded" shoulder seat belt.

For the NASCAR portion, you have the 5 point harness, firesuit, etc. so it's odd they wouldn't go to those lengths in the exotic cars, even though the exotics are cars you could go and buy if you had the money and drive them on the street.

 

[rteetz]

We'll know more in detail once things are released. I'm well aware that track was not "up-to-code" for the major touring racing series. I'm still surprised that seeing youtube videos that all you really wore was an open face helmet and a somewhat possibly "upgraded" shoulder seat belt.

For the NASCAR portion, you have the 5 point harness, firesuit, etc. so it's odd they wouldn't go to those lengths in the exotic cars, even though the exotics are cars you could go and buy if you had the money and drive them on the street.

I feel that for a guest experience safety in these cars should be number one priority and the fact that they don't use nascar or Indy safety features.

 

[rteetz]

Photos of the crash. Don't worry the car is covered but it looks to be on the inside barrier of the track rather than the outside concrete wall.

http://coxmedia.edgesuite.net/26801...9001_4169116329001_ax6.jpg?pubId=268012959001

http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2015/04/12/bf/55/ax2.jpg

 

[mousehockey37]

Photos of the crash. Don't worry the car is covered but it looks to be on the inside barrier of the track rather than the outside concrete wall.

http://coxmedia.edgesuite.net/26801...9001_4169116329001_ax6.jpg?pubId=268012959001

http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2015/04/12/bf/55/ax2.jpg

The Exotic car course runs in reverse of what the traditional race track does.

I posted this elsewhere and if you follow along, the :49 mark is where they pass the "access road" with the guard rail that was hit. It's very possible they lost control and when they hit the wet grass (you can see the car is in a puddle) it sped the car up..

 

[rteetz]

The Exotic car course runs in reverse of what the traditional race track does.

I posted this elsewhere and if you follow along, the :49 mark is where they pass the "access road" with the guard rail that was hit. It's very possible they lost control and when they hit the wet grass (you can see the car is in a puddle) it sped the car up..

Going at high speeds I think they should've had more safety features. Those guys are both wearing shorts a helmet and what looks like a normal seat belt. Another question brought up on wdwmagic was where were the water or sand barrels around the guard rail.

 

[mousehockey37]

Going at high speeds I think they should've had more safety features. Those guys are both wearing shorts a helmet and what looks like a normal seat belt. Another question brought up on wdwmagic was where were the water or sand barrels around the guard rail.

That's me, lol, I have the same name on both boards.

 

[Magic Fanatic]

i understood the Richard Petty Experience and Exitic Car to be run by companies other than Disney. Meaning, Disney leases the area to these companies, but has no real evolvement for liability purposes. The Richard Petty Experince has several locations at tracks around the country. There have been other accidents so my guess was Disney had already chose to not renew the arrangement.

 

[mousehockey37]

i understood the Richard Petty Experience and Exitic Car to be run by companies other than Disney. Meaning, Disney leases the area to these companies, but has no real evolvement for liability purposes. The Richard Petty Experince has several locations at tracks around the country. There have been other accidents so my guess was Disney had already chose to not renew the arrangement.

They were ultimately closing this down soon for "Transportation enhancements". These experiences have you sign waivers and such before you ever go near a car, and yes, they have several of these Richard Petty things around the country, I know they kinda follow the NASCAR circuit around and some are solid, like Orlando and Daytona.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Going at high speeds I think they should've had more safety features. Those guys are both wearing shorts a helmet and what looks like a normal seat belt. Another question brought up on wdwmagic was where were the water or sand barrels around the guard rail.

Not sure but it looks like the end of the guardrail was unprotected, and the car skidded into it in at an angle such that it punched directly into the passenger.

Here is a satellite-view screen capture (one of two guardrails like this). You can see how the thing is really designed for left-turn racing and not right-turn thrill rides.

 

[rteetz]

Not sure but it looks like the end of the guardrail was unprotected, and the car skidded into it in at an angle such that it punched directly into the passenger.

Here is a satellite-view screen capture (one of two guardrails like this). You can see how the thing is really designed for left-turn racing and not right-turn thrill rides.

View attachment 88010

That's why I'm surprised it was unprotected

 

[mousehockey37]

That's why I'm surprised it was unprotected

Looking at the video I posted, along with the newscast video, where they crashed it seems that you're coming out of a turn, and if they overdrove the car in any fashion at high speeds, or hit a bump even, the car was gonna take off....

Not sure but it looks like the end of the guardrail was unprotected, and the car skidded into it in at an angle such that it punched directly into the passenger.

Here is a satellite-view screen capture (one of two guardrails like this). You can see how the thing is really designed for left-turn racing and not right-turn thrill rides.

View attachment 88010

I believe the other on on the straightaway is the one you're looking for, but point taken.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

There are no truly high speeds involved. Many of these cars are capable of close to 200 miles per hour or even higher. But on this track they may go 120 or a little more, relatively slow on such a track. Had the car been traveling at a high speed when it hit that wall it would have wrapped right around it and been a twisted U of steel. The car looks hardly out of shape. Apparently the angle of the hit and the location of the hit on the passenger side is what made it fatal. This was a freak accident. Usually a car wouldn't go to the inside of the turn at exactly that angle. Very sad, but don't assume things were unsafe or too fast just because of one accident.

 

[rteetz]

There are no truly high speeds involved. Many of these cars are capable of close to 200 miles per hour or even higher. But on this track they may go 120 or a little more, relatively slow on such a track. Had the car been traveling at a high speed when it hit that wall it would have wrapped right around it and been a twisted U of steel. The car looks hardly out of shape. Apparently the angle of the hit and the location of the hit on the passenger side is what made it fatal. This was a freak accident. Usually a car wouldn't go to the inside of the turn at exactly that angle. Very sad, but don't assume things were unsafe or too fast just because of one accident.

I don't know about you but I find 120 to be a high speed. That is almost double most freeways in the US which range from 55-70 mph. This also wasn't much of a wall but a metal gaurd rail much like you find on freeways in the US as well. The car is covered in the pictures so I don't know how you can tell just how bad it is. Yes it was a freak accident but it seems that the exotic cars have less safety features than the stock cars.

 

[mousehockey37]

I don't know about you but I find 120 to be a high speed. That is almost double most freeways in the US which range from 55-70 mph. This also wasn't much of a wall but a metal gaurd rail much like you find on freeways in the US as well. The car is covered in the pictures so I don't know how you can tell just how bad it is. Yes it was a freak accident but it seems that the exotic cars have less safety features than the stock cars.

I agree, 120 is a speed that not many people travel in a passenger car on a daily basis. So when you can put the pedal down and hit that mark, it's fast. When you feel the wheel start to shake and such, it gets exciting, lol.

The exotic cars are just that. I've seen videos from this experience where they ask questions and literally, you could go buy these cars off the lot. So there's your safety features.