SAFETY

The most bizarre accident

Safety intro | Worst accident | Most bizarre accident

Pedalcar racing's most bizarre accident occurred in the 1998 Rugby-100 event, although it could have been very serious. A driver inexplicably turned left at Eau Brune, rather than following the easy right hand sweep of the curve. Beyond the edge of the track here, there is a steep bank that drops away about 10 feet to what used to be part of the river Avon. In a spare car borrowed from Adrian Toms, the unfortunate young racer hit and jumped the 4 inch kerb and ploughed down the bank, shedding bodywork and carving a swathe through the brambles on the way, before coming to rest in the stagnant pond.

The incident site - yes, the bank really is that tall and that steep. Pic: Antony Hawkins

Although the water is quite clear, it's about three feet deep and you wouldn't want to drink it. Miraculously, given the steepness of the bank (closer to vertical than horizontal), the car had remained upright despite turning through 180 degrees on the way in, allowing the driver to simply stand up in the water. This was very lucky as it took some time before anyone knew the driver was in the water and then a few more seconds until anyone arrived on the scene. After their removal from the water, both car and driver were found to be in good order, if slightly dazed. Both also dribbled water and greenery around the circuit for the next couple of laps.

Fortunately another driver saw the incident happen and alerted the pit crews who went to the rescue - without this information the driver would have been in the water for much longer as he was completely out of site of the race circuit itself.

We're still baffled as to why the accident happened, as no fault was found with either the steering or brakes on Adrian's car (that's a first - Ed) (Actually, that's probably what caused it - Senior Ed) and the track is more than wide enough to do U-turns at that point.

As ever, the video camera was pointing elsewhere at the time, and we missed out on £250. Again.

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