Someday, It Will Happen
If you like to watch a rally, then you're in luck here. Rallies are common in some townships with the appropriate lanes. I am not a fan. I don't see the sport in it, nor the excitement of watching cars careening around curves, throwing up dirt in their wake. I would prefer to be driving, but it doesn't sound to me like something interesting to watch. However, rallies bring together hundreds, sometimes thousands of spectators, lined up along the lanes. Security has always tried to set up areas away from some of the dangerous curves, but sometimes security has had to be rethought after serious accidents. Like the one yesterday.
There was a rally in the township of Carral, near A Coruña, yesterday. It had been discontinued, but this year it was reinstated after fourteen years. It was also the patron saint of the parish, so many people were celebrating. From photos that appear in newspapers, spectators were lined up quite close to the lane along a stretch of road. I suppose it was assumed to be a safe stretch because it had no sharp curves. But that's still where the accident happened. A car came around a slight bend at high speed, one of its wheels snagged in the ditch, and the car turned around on itself, into the people standing at the side of the lane. Six people died, and sixteen are in various hospitals, some of them in very serious condition.
Three of the dead make you think. One was a child, the other two were a couple who were about to become parents. The woman was nine months pregnant; tomorrow was her due date. All who died were on the very edge of the lane. Apparently there was only one person in charge of security in that area, and he had been constantly telling the people to back away from the lane. How close do some people have to be to a race to see it? Also, why weren't barriers put in place and people obligated to stand behind them? It's a tragedy, but a preventable one.
Humans seem to lose their common sense in the face of danger when they're at a competition or exhibition that involves dangerous unpredictability on the part of large machinery. And it seems that Spaniards are worse at following safety instructions. The spectators were told numerous times to back away from the edge. Apparently there was also the least amount of safety measures in place. That's also something Spaniards are bad at. Most security barriers at a local event consist of metal rods planted in the ground and connected with red and white or other colored tape. It's understood that beyond the tape you cannot go. It's also understood that when the crowd builds up, that's exactly where you go.
One person telling fifty people to get behind the barrier is also typical Spanish. Spaniards seem to be collectively a people who put their faith in the "don't worry, nothing's going to happen" mentality. I assume it comes from assimilation of Moorish culture so long ago and a firm, rooted belief in fatality. After all, ojalá (hopefully) comes from inshallah (if God wills it).
But, there always comes a day when something does happen. For these unfortunates, it was yesterday.
There was a rally in the township of Carral, near A Coruña, yesterday. It had been discontinued, but this year it was reinstated after fourteen years. It was also the patron saint of the parish, so many people were celebrating. From photos that appear in newspapers, spectators were lined up quite close to the lane along a stretch of road. I suppose it was assumed to be a safe stretch because it had no sharp curves. But that's still where the accident happened. A car came around a slight bend at high speed, one of its wheels snagged in the ditch, and the car turned around on itself, into the people standing at the side of the lane. Six people died, and sixteen are in various hospitals, some of them in very serious condition.
Three of the dead make you think. One was a child, the other two were a couple who were about to become parents. The woman was nine months pregnant; tomorrow was her due date. All who died were on the very edge of the lane. Apparently there was only one person in charge of security in that area, and he had been constantly telling the people to back away from the lane. How close do some people have to be to a race to see it? Also, why weren't barriers put in place and people obligated to stand behind them? It's a tragedy, but a preventable one.
Humans seem to lose their common sense in the face of danger when they're at a competition or exhibition that involves dangerous unpredictability on the part of large machinery. And it seems that Spaniards are worse at following safety instructions. The spectators were told numerous times to back away from the edge. Apparently there was also the least amount of safety measures in place. That's also something Spaniards are bad at. Most security barriers at a local event consist of metal rods planted in the ground and connected with red and white or other colored tape. It's understood that beyond the tape you cannot go. It's also understood that when the crowd builds up, that's exactly where you go.
One person telling fifty people to get behind the barrier is also typical Spanish. Spaniards seem to be collectively a people who put their faith in the "don't worry, nothing's going to happen" mentality. I assume it comes from assimilation of Moorish culture so long ago and a firm, rooted belief in fatality. After all, ojalá (hopefully) comes from inshallah (if God wills it).
But, there always comes a day when something does happen. For these unfortunates, it was yesterday.
So the couple who died were actually three.
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