I have been thinking about the Selby Rail Crash, where it is said that Gary Hart went to sleep at the wheel. It looks as if he will be sent to prison. I can't help wondering if we triallers sail close to the wind on this one sometimes. On the Exeter I always struggle to stay awake on the way from breakfast to the first hill and on the long grind down the A30 to Bluehills on The Lands End. Personally I always take the day off before an MCC event and put my head down before setting off for the start. I know some people take wakey, wakey pills. Has anyone tried Red Bull? The endurance element is a key part of MCC trials and without it they would be loose all their character but we must be careful, especially with the speed of modern traffic.
I used to drive home after the Edinburgh until the day I went to sleep on the Motorway. I remember I was dreaming about somebody knocking on my bedroom door trying to wake me up. I did and it was the sound of my wheels on the Cats Eyes. After that I stay in Buxton overnight!
Michael
Hi Michael Day off before a must! I have always found Red Bull and a few squares of Diary Milk definately gives you "wings" (!) or at least a good energy boost. One for the people with a sweet tooth though! Mark
ReplyDeleteHi all you people who are presently devoid of
ReplyDeletetrialling, it's awful, isn't it?
I've got to be a provocative beggar on the
topic of public highway use for endurance events, I'm afraid.
I would hate to have any of my grandchildren
hurt in a road accident caused by someone carrying out some hard to justify
sporting activity that obviously courts disaster on a public road. There are
enough brain-dead cowboys driving souped up hatchbacks to fulfil the quota of
road accidents, we do not need to supplement them (as I have done for many
years) by driving badly balanced, possibly damaged, predominantly off-road cars
at relatively high speeds on public roads along which unsuspecting members of
the general public are innocently driving.
There are great memories to be had from recalling
the good old days when road use was much less dense but nowadays this is
just so unacceptable that driving for hours to reach a nostalgic set of sections
used many years ago is more than unsociable, it is irresponsible. Better to keep
the road miles to an absolute minimum and run through the sections a couple more
times.
There are lots of activities that are similarly
challenging, perhaps more so, for the speed freaks there is autograss, for those
of a more reserved nature there are PCT's and for the esoteric there are
always Sporting trials. The long distance Classic trial is no longer socially
acceptable and should be revised as savagely as the RAC Rally has been. I would
suggest that the Fiasco Rally of South Wales as it now might be known is
as unpopular in its limited format as Classic Trialling would be if I had my
way, but at least the road users driving responsibly in roadworthy cars would
not be put at risk. How could anyone justify their driving beyond their limits
for mere sporting purposes, try telling bereaved relatives of the victims of
such foolishness.
Red Bull ??, wakey wakey ??, get real, it's fine by
me in a field but not on the highway.
Should I duck now?
John Rhodes
Well, John D Rhodes, that certainly is a controversial posting. However, I think that you overstate your case in that the long distance trial entrants take sensible precautions to avoid falling asleep. Like, having several hours of kip prior to the event; like making sure that they have a walk about and a tea or coffee at all the enforced breaks; like getting out of the car when waiting to attempt a section etc etc. Many of the crews will use the generous time allowance to have a kip, parked safely at the side of the road, to take up a bit of time. Whilst I have only be doing the Triple events (as a navigator) for four years I have yet to hear any tales of people falling asleep during a trial - whilst driving, that is. You posting makes you sound like one of those people that knows what's good for every one and then terms any behaviour which deviates from that norm 'socially unacceptable'. By all means give up Triple events if you are that worried, but please leave the rest of us to get on with it, responsibly.
ReplyDeleteI know
ReplyDeleteI sound to be overstating the case but just look at the two previous postings,
one admits to falling asleep on a public raod and the other acknowledges the use
of sleep reducing drugs by some competitors. You may personally be able to
exercise and rest as needed but apparently not everyone takes such a responsible
approach.
I have
also marshalled LeJog from the first year and witnessed crews that have been
competing from tea time and I see them in North Yorkshire with eyes 'out on
stalks' at breakfast time and the next bed is Edinburgh, so excesses are not
confined to trialling.
[John Rhodes]
-----Original
Message-----
From: chris phillips
[mailto:chris_n_p@hotmail.com]
Sent: 19 December 2001
01:02
To: Classical Gas, For Trials enthusiasts
Subject: Re:
Asleep At The Wheel
New Message on Classical
Gas, For Trials enthusiasts
Asleep At The
Wheel
Reply
<font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Sans Serif" color=
Oh this is a difficult one. Should we ban all vehicles from the roads from 2 am to 6 am which I gather is the peak time for falling asleep at the wheel? Should we restrict road use in this period to those with legitimate business reasons for travel (eg sleep deprived Internet freaks delivering cars on trailers) while stopping those whose journey is for frivolous reasons (ie drivers in funny hats with even funnier cars)? The problem is that we have come to believe that zero risk is desirable and attainable and as a result are pretty inept at risk assessment and minimisation. There is now a huge risk management industry whose principle function is not risk reduction but blame deflection. Believe me, I work in the NHS. I tend to side with Chris Philips in this issue. I like the night runs, they are a significant part of the adventure. Coming from the north and having a long and extremely sleep inducing drive there and back (with a car on a trailer, Oh no) I would be disappointed by a short spin around a number of closely spaced sections. It is my view that the MCC designs their routes pretty responsibly with no road section exceeding a couple of hours and with opportunities to stop and take catnaps on many occasions. I have tried Red Bull and it did seem to help, whether it’s the caffeine or the foul taste of bovine gonad I don’t know. As far as I know the ‘wakers’ that people take are caffeine tablets of the ‘Pro-plus’ variety. You will be glad to hear that there is no evidence that such medicaments have an adverse effect on reaction or judgement. The same can not be said for amphetamines which I hope no one is tempted by. Clearly we need to be seen to act responsibly (risk management again) I think it would be helpful if the route cards included some advice including the importance of having adequate rest before a trial and stopping briefly if becoming sleepy, its amazing the difference one lap around the car makes. For the long distance events such as the centenary trial consideration should be given to allowing the co driver to take a turn at the wheel. Also the navigators should be reminded that part of their job is to monitor the driver and help them keep awake. But don’t lets go all risk free and stay at home waiting for the grim reaper who may then come sooner than you think Tony
ReplyDeleteAlan Foster sent me the following e-mail which I am posting here with his permission:- Mike, It is very encouraging to see so much common sense contributed on this
ReplyDeletesubject. The Gary Hart case appears to have moved the law forward by establishing a direct link between lifestyle and dangerous driving. It was probably always the case, but not so explicit - there have been examples of deaths on motorway hard shoulders due to drowsiness. MSA will be considering the implications, and there is active discussion going on within The MCC. As far as I am aware, and without being at all complacent, we have a 97 year track record which I hope we can maintain. In ever more crowded conditions, this can only be done by individual responsibility - and you and other contributors have given good examples of personal preparation. Competitors have MCC Route Cards 2-3 weeks prior to the events, so everyone knows what is expected of them. Good preparation, making the best of all the breaks (there are plenty of them) and risks will be minimised. There may be a need for fine tuning of the events we enjoy but let us hope we can maintain the tradition of these great sporting occasions. John Rhodes seems to have been on the Road to Damascus, but I fear his grandchildren are at far greater risk outside their schools from the irresponsible driving of many parents than from trials drivers. Let us all keep a sense of proportion, awareness and responsibility. Life is for living, but is a risky business! Alan
I've come to this discussion rather late, but this is an issue that's been worrying me for a while now on reliability trials. Leaving aside the iniquity of the Selby verdict (i.e., what would he have been sentenced to if his Land Rover had stopped ten yards sooner?), there is in my view a real issue for long-distance trials here. I admit to having fallen asleep during a long boring night run up the A5 on the Edinburgh several years ago, waking in time only because of the roughness of the nearside verge. Since then I've relied successfully on Pro-Plus pills and copious coffee draughts (full bladder helps) to keep me awake. However, it does seem to me that we are living on borrowed time. The roads are now increasingly busy on night runs, with round-the-clock haulage operators and others. In the real world, most of our members are setting off on Friday night after a working day, and there is a real risk in the 02.00-07.00 period that someone unprepared will come to grief. In my experience,the problem solely arises because of the long, tedious night drives. The remedy would seem to me to be that we need to start the events a little nearer the main event area and include more "activities" of some kind to focus the drivers' minds. I find that concentration tends only to drift perhaps two hours after some adrenaline-generating event (even, say, scrutineering). Certainly, the wake-up effect of an intermediate hill would probably remove a lot of the risk? Barry Toogood
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I thought we'd put this issue to bed in the bar of the Trecarn post-Exeter. Alan Foster's excellent earlier message says it all, in my humble opinion. ... and before we start knocking the MCC for it's long distance events, consider the view of one very well-known competitor who reckons that the real danger from sleep deprivation is returning home after an ACTC event with the trials car on a trailer and the heater turned-up in the tow car (and generally late on a Sunday night when you've got to get home to go to work the following day). But I reckon the REAL answer is to restrict all MCC events to bikes, outfits, and open cars. We're all too b****y cold to fall asleep during the event. Andrew
ReplyDeleteMust say I agree with everything that Andrew has said. There is no way you will go to sleep in my Troll but the tow car on the way home is another thing. It all comes down to common sense, do as the signs on the motorway say, 'take a break'. I must say that on most of the MCC events I find the distances between stops very reasonable with plenty of time to get out of the car for a streatch and a rest. Lets try to use common sense on this and not legislation. Stuart Harrold
ReplyDelete