Yesterday a group of fans were struck by lightning in a parking lot outside Pocono Raceway. One was killed and several others injured.
Having been to Pocono a few years back, I remember that the parking lots were vast, flat, open areas. There were few trees and few places for lightning to strike safely. Since Pocono does not have lights, there were no light poles to attract lightning. The highest point in the area is probably the press box at the track. Since Pocono is a very large facility, the parking lots can be quite some distance away from the grandstands. There are also not very many structures to stand under or in. The only real place to stand for shelter are the bathrooms, but they are not very big and would not be able to hold 80,000+ fans that had gathered to watch the race.
The report also said that the track sent updates out via Facebook and Twitter. Having been to several races up and down the east coast, I've rarely found ample bandwidth to download or upload any information from my phone. In fact, most of the time I don't even bother to look at my phone during a race. Data speeds are so bad and my battery will suffer during said times.
What can be done to help prevent such tragedies?
First thought of course is to evacuate the stands sooner if bad weather is impending. Does that solve the problem? No. Not all fans will heed warnings and clearing out thousands of race fans through limited entrances is not practical. There are not enough buildings at most tracks for all fans to get inside and be protected. Lightning rods and towers might help.
Incidents like this take away from the fun of the sport. Unfortunately it happened at a NASCAR race, but it could conceivably happen at an NFL, MLB, NHL, or NBA game. They're not as probable, as most stadiums tend to be built in urban areas, whereas NASCAR tracks tend to be in more rural areas due to noise and parking issues.
Having been to Pocono a few years back, I remember that the parking lots were vast, flat, open areas. There were few trees and few places for lightning to strike safely. Since Pocono does not have lights, there were no light poles to attract lightning. The highest point in the area is probably the press box at the track. Since Pocono is a very large facility, the parking lots can be quite some distance away from the grandstands. There are also not very many structures to stand under or in. The only real place to stand for shelter are the bathrooms, but they are not very big and would not be able to hold 80,000+ fans that had gathered to watch the race.
The report also said that the track sent updates out via Facebook and Twitter. Having been to several races up and down the east coast, I've rarely found ample bandwidth to download or upload any information from my phone. In fact, most of the time I don't even bother to look at my phone during a race. Data speeds are so bad and my battery will suffer during said times.
What can be done to help prevent such tragedies?
First thought of course is to evacuate the stands sooner if bad weather is impending. Does that solve the problem? No. Not all fans will heed warnings and clearing out thousands of race fans through limited entrances is not practical. There are not enough buildings at most tracks for all fans to get inside and be protected. Lightning rods and towers might help.
Incidents like this take away from the fun of the sport. Unfortunately it happened at a NASCAR race, but it could conceivably happen at an NFL, MLB, NHL, or NBA game. They're not as probable, as most stadiums tend to be built in urban areas, whereas NASCAR tracks tend to be in more rural areas due to noise and parking issues.
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