Truly unfortunate news…didn’t see the post so sharing a karting fatality in Norway….
TRANSLATION:
*15-Year-Old Dies During Go-Karting: – This is a Terribly Heavy Day
The go-kart ended up upside down before an organized motorsport competition in Sandefjord. The case is being updated.
The driver of the go-kart was a 15-year-old boy, who was declared dead by a doctor at the scene. Relatives have been notified.
The accident happened at 18:00 on the go-kart track in Andebu in Sandefjord. Two hours later, the police announced that the boy was declared dead.
The race was a large event with over 200 participants and was organized by the Norwegian Motor Club Andebu.
The race and all further driving were stopped when the accident occurred.
The police are working on tactical and technical investigation steps at the scene.
The mayor of Sandefjord, Bjørn Ole Gleditsch, says the crisis team is involved and that they have talked to Tønsberg about assistance if needed. – I think this is tragic, and I think about the closest relatives and everyone who was present. It is brutal to witness something like this, he says.
The Norwegian Motorsport Federation states in a statement that: – The accident victim sustained extensive internal injuries, and despite the strenuous efforts of the health personnel who were on the scene within seconds of the incident, life could not be saved. – This is a terribly heavy day for Norwegian Motorsport, says Secretary General Hallgeir Raknerud of the Norwegian Motorsport Federation in the same message.
RIP Racer. This is EXACTLY why I think current karts are much too heavy. The fact that they handle worse is another factor. I’m leery of starting my 8 yr. old son with a LO206 for the same reason…flip will crush young ribcage area…and organs. No vest can save against the kinetic energy of 4x your body weight at speed… Sad. Prayers for the family.
I think it’s maybe prudent to wait until a few more details to come out to necessarily judge cause.
The driver was according to the article 15, so on the “high” end of the youth age range for rib and cartilage development. That said, a kart overturning is never good.
I don’t know if any governing body tracks flips vs rate of injuries, but in my time in karting I’ve heard of 3 fatalities. I am sure there are more, but it is indeed quite rare.
So, let’s hopefully learn from this tragedy and see what can be improved…
I’m leery of starting my 8 yr. old son with a LO206 for the same reason
If it’s any consolation, in general there is a wide spectrum of driver ability in the junior classes. For example, whereas everyone in senior is within 0.5s and bunched together, the junior classes at least in local club races very quickly spreads out. Combined, this means I’ve never seen a junior LO206 flip even though I’ve seen many seniors flip during the same period.
Of course, I’ve seen plenty of juniors spin out and crash and it’s not like those are exactly safe, but at least not life threatening.
Im still wondering how fast did the driver go. I mean my driver was caused the other driver upside down but the flipped driver was totally fine, then again i know we cant compare mini to junior speed.
