Racers at the Moto2 race in Italy
last weekend are being charged with manslaughter for contributing to
the death of a racer, according to reports in Italian media.
Nineteen-year-old Shoya Tomizawa died
after crashing at Misano during the MotoGP weekend event and being
hit by two race bikes.
Alex de Angelis and Scott Redding both
ran into Tomizawa after the popular Japanese racer crashed on the
12th lap.
According to the website quattrotempi.com (see link above), de Angelis and Redding have been charged with culpable homicide in the death.
But race marshalls might have contributed to his death and may face charges, too. The race was not stopped, no red flag was put up, and
marshalls hurriedly scooped Tomizawa onto a stretcher, despite his being unconscious, then dropped
him as they carried him away.
Tomizawa suffered serious injuries to his
head, chest, and abdomen, and died in an Italian hospital.
An investigation into the death will
look at the actions of race officials and will try to determine the
exact cause of Tomizawa’s death and if being dropped contributed to
it.
Tomizawa won the opening race of the
Moto2 series at Qatar this year.
That is one thing about the race tracks I have worked at, if you need medical you get an ambulance, not a bunch of wannabes doing what professionals should be doing, unfortunately the attitude in pro racing is to not stop the race and to clear the track as quickly as possible, which appeared to be the case here. There was little debris that I could see on the track and only the downed rider, if the rider was moving, which he appeared to be when he stopped, assist him off the track as quick as you can, but if he is not moving which happened before the track workers got there, then you ask for a red flag, you stay with the rider not touching him and then wait for the ambulance, the only time you touch him is if he is obviously not breathing or to staunch bleeding if possible, and then only if you have the first aid training to do so. Too many flag wavers only as track workers nowadays and that needs to change.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the actions of the track workers contributed to his death. A professional doesn’t drop a stretcher with a casualty on it. These workers, race control, and the whole race organization should be crucified for the way this was handled, it should have been red flagged immediately it was obvious the rider was unresponsive and an ambulance dispatched, too much emphasis on keeping the race going than safety, and that’s not the way racing should be.
Do you really think they care about sensitivity? This is simple sensationalism. It’s about driving traffic to their site.
This has not been confirmed by any reputable new source, in fact I read another article saying its likely no one will be charged with anything let alone the riders who are obviously innocent parties in the incident. I think its highly insensitive that this is even on here, it could be extremely upsetting for the famillies of those involved in this tragedy.
The charge named “persons unknown”, not the racers, according to motomatters.com’s report from Thursday, citing ANSA Italy. That same site also announced that the charges were “likely to be dropped”. The ANSA release suggests (in the badly translated version I read) the investigation was into acts of the marshalls and attendants and whether they negligently contributed to his death.
For anyone able to read Italian, here’s the original release from ANSA:
http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/altrisport/2010/09/09/visualizza_new.html_1785173418.html
Oh, and nobody “sued” anyone.
While the very notion of blaming any of the riders involved is idiotic, I do thing that some of the actions taken by the race stewards and marshals are worthy of some scrutiny, the race should have been red flagged just to bring the ambulance and to properly immobilize Tomizawa before taking him out to the hospital. De Angelis should not be made responsible neither is Redding, it was impossible for them to avoid Shoya a that speed in that place, having said that the emergency procedure was sloppy at best and it should be looked into
Absolutely BS. This is why public skating rinks are closing, playground equipment is removed from city parks, and our motorcycle insurance rates are so high! Lawyers, lawyers, lawyers… There are too many of them looking to sue innocent people just to earn a few (or, many!) bucks! 🙁
that’s retarded.. can’t charge de Angelis and Redding for a racing accident….
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Tomizawa family.
Charging the other racers with culpable homicide
in a racing accident is ludicrous.
The FIM needs to step up and put Italy on notice
that the racing community won’t stand for this.
The FIM should not schedule any races in Italy.