… State of the Nation …
Exasperation is too strong a word, but reading between the lines, there does appear to be a widely-held belief that rallying has not done enough to explain what progress the sport has made with regard to safety.
In other words, it’s not enough to make improvements, the sport must BE SEEN to be making improvements. In this case modesty is not a virtue.
That is why the sport must demonstrate measurable progress this year. Despite the many improvements that have been made over the past few years, it is only those within the sport who are really aware of them. Hence the Government’s insistence on the adoption of its Safety Review Group’s recommendations, and also the reason behind the initial 12 months to start implementation and the following 12 months to ensure that procedures and systems are in place. Falling short is not an option.
In the interim if, god forbid, another tragedy should happen in the woods, then the plug could be pulled – instantly. It’s not just us that will be held to account, it will be the Government too. The great British public is not renowned for its patience in such matters, they will immediately want to know why more wasn’t done. And no doubt some sections of the great British press will be in there too stoke up the fires of fury and ignorance.
The Government’s strict timetable for change is therefore understandable. In all fairness to the politicians (apart from one!) and the civil servants there has been a great deal of support so far for the way the sport is run and the steps it has been taking to improve on that. The big trouble is perceived to be that the sport itself hasn’t done enough to share ‘good practice’ and tell those on the outside what has been achieved.
That’s not just the fault of the MSA, as the regional associations, the clubs, the event organisers and the championships have all fallen short in the area of communications.
Ways Forward
Taking event organisers as an example. Each event team thinks it is the best and their event is better than all others. Fair enough, but if they come up with a new idea with regard to car parks, spectator enclosures or route marking, they don’t tend to tell anyone else. However, you can bet your dirty little dipstick that if a rival organiser spots these innovations then they will adopt and adapt them to suit their own event. In this way there is an established measure of ‘sharing good practice’ but it’s more like school kids copying homework, rather than sharing the lesson around.
The regional associations and the Championships could do more here too by organising seminars to discuss and share good ideas and good practice.
Here’s another (not mine) excellent idea. Both the Mull Rally and the Snowman produced their own safety video films for websites and social media pages. The best bit about these was the use of local heroes to promote the message.
This is much more effective than getting some H&S expert, Police spokesperson or unknown rally organiser to highlight the safest way to wander in the woods. Simply repeating the same ‘national appeal’ film to all events will lessen the impact and defeat the purpose. No matter that such films could be amateurish, if the personalities are recognisable that would be more effective. These films could then be broadcast on all social media outlets ahead of each local event so that any would-be spectator looking for information will have the safety message presented to them in an informative and entertaining fashion. I really thought John MacCrone and Stuart Loudon, Donnie MacDonald and Paul Beaton were terrific, but there’s no need to involve Equity (the Film Actors Union) – yet.
This is an idea that could be taken up by every club who organises an event. And who knows, the MSA might even award a prize at the end of the season for the best safety film – judged by Meeke and Evans? Or maybe Daniel Craig and Sean Connery?
Safety Record
Overall, rallying still has a pretty good safety record compared to other sports, but it lacks the high media and public profile of the ‘more popular’ sports. However, when tragedy does strike these other ‘more popular’ activities, there are fewer calls for cancellation and more for investigation and improvement. Unlike minority sports where the un-informed majority howl with indignation and call for them to be banned as a means of controlling risk.
When tragedy struck again last year, media and public interest was aroused and questions asked about how and why it could have happened again, regardless of the fact that the circumstances were quite different.
In view of ongoing police investigations little can be said as those involved were asked to refrain from commenting to the press. So whilst it seemed that nothing was being done, this was far from the case. But it is this public perception that is causing concern and so it was no surprise that the politicians got involved.
Which is why the MSA is under pressure and why the timescale for improvement is so short. To those outside the sport who don’t know any better it might appear that the sport is incapable of sorting this matter out unaided or without compulsion. The appointment of a civil servant shows the level of importance being attached to the adoption of the Safety Review recommendations.
Given that the sport is now under the spotlight, simply getting on with the job is not enough, you have to tell people and show them that the sport has changed and the process is ongoing.
That is not as easy as it sounds. It is very difficult to get exposure in the popular press, and on TV and radio. The only time they are interested, is when things go wrong.
Many staff journalists and photographers have little or no knowledge of the sport and very few of them feature any reports from events. Indeed many of the main news outlets these days do not have a motoring correspondent on staff, let alone a motor sports reporter, so they have no knowledge or background on which to make sound judgement.
And that’s where the danger lies. Inexperienced and ignorant journalists turn up to an event and have to understand and comprehend the nature of the sport before they can report factually.
Typical of this difficulty was a recent phone call when I was contacted after the Snowman Rally by a daily newspaper to write a 200 word report, but when I asked what the fee would be, was told: “We don’t do that!”
Here was a professional and salaried editor sitting in an air conditioned office somewhere asking a freelance journalist to do it for nothing. More recently I was asked by a local newspaper for an event preview. At least the caller expressed sorrow that he couldn’t pay, but that I would get a by-line. Fame without the fortune, eh?
The Future
That is why mainstream media outlets are happy to accept free copy, but begs the question, how do they exercise control and accuracy over freely supplied information? Sadly, that’s just the way the news industry in the UK is at present. And that is what the ‘minority sports’ are up against.
In the mid eighties I actually did some football reporting and there was never any question then of doing it for nothing. Maybe I should go back to it!
On that basis, rallying needs to do more to ensure that all news outlets get accurate copy. If no-one within an event organising team is willing or capable of doing that, then that might mean having to pay a publicist or freelance to do it. If the sport does nothing to promote itself then it can expect little sympathy when the world’s press come calling.
For over 50 years spectating at rallies has been seen primarily as an attraction to rally fans and in the vast majority of cases these fans exercise care when walking into and out of stages and when picking vantage points. In past times, the majority of these folk exercised common sense and took more responsibility for their own personal care.
Sadly, that is no longer sufficient. It would appear that people have to be protected from their own stupidity and carelessness. Simply relying on them to show common sense and exercise self preservation is no longer acceptable. On that basis there is now more pressure on organisers to provide advice and guidance.
In more recent times the fringe element has exacerbated the problem of irresponsible behaviour and if this cannot be controlled, there are two options. Ban the spectators or stop the sport.
And whilst the Government might have every sympathy with our efforts, they are pragmatists. They WILL take whatever steps they deem are necessary.
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