2007 Gumball 3000 Cancelled Following Fatal Accident

[Famine]

Gumball 3000 2007 has been cancelled, following an as-yet-undetermined fatal accident involving a Gumball Porsche 911 and a Volkswagen Golf (though the Gumball participants, British men Nicholas Morley, 30, Matthew McConvile, 32, are alleged to have fled the scene in Macedonia), in which one of the occupants of the Volkswagen died.

The organisers have stopped the event at Bratislava.

There have also been two more crashes - one involving a Ford GT and a second involving a Porsche Carrera GT.

Official Gumball 3000 statement.

Sky News report of crash.


Discuss...

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Maximum one year in prison? That sounds a little too low, especially after fleeing the scene.

 

[Sting]

Do we know the circumstances of how the crash happened?

They say its a rally, but some people in high performance cars will always think of it as a race.

 

[Lee]

Yeah competitors tend to forget they really are not professional drivers and that they really are on public roads.. No matter what country they are in.

 

[Danoff]

I'm kinda surprised they cancelled the race.

 

[mizx]

As unfortunate as that story is, there's fast driving and there's fast driving, undiscerning stupidity and discerning regulation, no guesses which one is more apt in this case...

Excuse my bluntness, but it's just a bunch of idiots with more money than sense, this was just inevitable.

 

[KSaiyu]

Yeah, I'm surprised it hasn't happened before the way they drive.

EDIT: WOW they tried running from the scene as well?! **** them.

 

[Gonz013]

Regardless of how/ why it happened, they are cowards for fleeing.
They deserve more than one year in jail.

 

[Duke]

Regardless of how/ why it happened, they are cowards for fleeing.
They deserve more than one year in jail.

Agreed.

The sheer stupidity of it is that it's now a Time Speed Distance (TSD) rally, meaning there's just as much penalty for being early as there is for being late.

 

[Keef]

I'm kinda surprised they cancelled the race.

I'm quite suprised also. There's a ton of crazy things that have happened during prevoius rallies, and all you need to do is watch the videos to know that. But I guess Max thinks a civilian death is just plain crossing the line.

I wonder how everyone is going to get their cars back home. Surely all those people in fast cars heading back to the same place could take it easy...

 

[Jay]

Regardless of how/ why it happened, they are cowards for fleeing.
They deserve more than one year in jail.

I agree completely.


I wonder how they got another car as they were caught in one at the border crossing.

 

[YSSMAN]

Wow, thats surprising. I would have figured that the Gumball would go onward no matter what, but then again, Max seems to have a pretty level head in most circumstances, so I would trust that he is making the right decision...

...That being said, this does go onward to prove that many of the drivers who do the 'race' are far too unskilled to be handling cars like these at these kinds of speeds. The Rolls-Royce crash last year comes to mind, totaling a nearly half-million-dollar car... Hell, the crashes in the race (or two) before it through Africa, which claimed the Cosworth, the 360 Spyder, and the SRT-10...

You do have to wonder how, if at all, Max will change the race for next year... That is, if there is one. Maybe we need to begin to require driving lessons, specialty equipment, or something else?

Either way, this won't look good for us car guys who live for things like this...

...It does make you wonder though; Why hasn't this happened before? Especially after they have ran the race here in the US, with some of the most congested roads in the world...

 

[V1P3R]

lol, I'm sorry... they all asked for that.

 

[TheCracker]

I've seen the standards of driving on previous events from the TV shows, and i'm really suprised something like this hasn't happened before. Take a bunch of over-privileged, egotistical morons, put them in front of TV cameras, add copious amounts of alcohol, deprive them of sleep, put them in powerful cars and then ask them to drive for thousands of miles across unfamiliar roads in unfamiliar countries and what do you expect?

 

[Touring Mars]

"They were arrested on charges of endangering traffic and abandoning an accident victim." The police spokesman said the offences carry a maximum one-year prison sentence.

They didn't say anything about how long they may face in jail if they are subsequently charged with causing death by dangerous/reckless driving if and when that is established to be the case. I reckon if they are charged and found guilty of that (which of course may well not turn out to be the case), the fact that they fled the scene and left their victims to their fate without even trying to help or contact the emergency services will be viewed very badly, and maximise their odds of getting the toughest possible sentence, whatever that may be. You can bet your bottom dollar it will be more than one year.

lol, I'm sorry... they all asked for that.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Please clarify.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

lol, I'm sorry... they all asked for that.

What, the person in the Golf who died? An ill-judged comment to be sure.

 

[Mark T]

What was an excellent event will now be scarred by this accident. I don't know if this puts serious pressure on them to stop running the Gumball rally. Maybe they will introduce further restrictions. Maybe an advanced driving course before they can compete in the rally. I would have taken an advanced driving course anyway if I had as much money as them. It's the sensible thing to do when you driving those cars over a long distance.

 

[Holdenhsvgtsr]

I'm kinda surprised they cancelled the race.

the crashes in the race (or two) before it through Africa, which claimed the Cosworth, the 360 Spyder, and the SRT-10...

You do have to wonder how, if at all, Max will change the race for next year...

Especially after they have ran the race here in the US

why do people keep refering to the gumball as a race? its anything but that (you can argue that all you want with some videos you may have seen but ive seen plenty of videos where they are just crusing and not going flat out) the gumball as max(and other people like jodie kidd tony hawk etc) says is a rally,a road trip where people with expensive cars can get together and go for a long drive,NOT a race.

i do agree with what some people say,it was only a matter of time till something like this happened.

 

[Christhedude]

i didnt even know that the really started already. I thought it will start like last year in July or around these months in summer.

Some of the Gumballer's just take it too far. I loved to watch Gumball 3000 2006 and they way the drove on the Highways...Damn.

 

[Danoff]

why do people keep refering to the gumball as a race? its anything but that (you can argue that all you want with some videos you may have seen but ive seen plenty of videos where they are just crusing and not going flat out) the gumball as max(and other people like jodie kidd tony hawk etc) says is a rally,a road trip where people with expensive cars can get together and go for a long drive,NOT a race.

i do agree with what some people say,it was only a matter of time till something like this happened.

Are people trying to get there first? It's a race.

 

[Gnasha]

It had to happen one day. I must say I always had mixed feeling about this rally. In one hand it a fantastic drive with splendid example of the automotive gender, but on the other hand, it has always been spoil by a few twits. I don't mind a bit of speed as long as it's not done in living areas, with heavy traffic or more briefly when you are not endangering anybody who hasn't asked to be there.
I think that stopping this years race is the best for everybody and hope that some of the gumballers will finally understand that the track section on the rally are the one where you supposed to go flat out.

 

[V1P3R]

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Please clarify.

It's an illegal race while out on public roads and you expect me to give my simpathy to this race? 💡 Uh... no.

 

[Kent]

Well, I'm glad they stopped the race. Not for the sake of preventing more of this but for the sake of reminding the participants that the real world is still surrounding them- the world doesn't stop for gumball and remembering that may bring these people back down to earth.

Organizing and participating in an event like this will surely help you to feel as if you are above the law (as if they already don't feel that way considering the money these people have).

Regarding the next race and precautions...
I don't think driver training will do a thing.
Fact of the matter is, the drivers of the gumball cars aren't the only people on the road. No matter how much driver training you have there is no way to account for the average joe you're trying to pass.
Just like riding a motorcycle, most of the time you aren't worried about your mistakes but rather the mistakes of other drivers. 👎

That is not to say this was the fault of the Golf driver. I am not saying that, I am only saying that mixing speeding super cars with normal highway conditions will eventually lead to accidents regardless of the talent of the super car driver.

Regarding the crime commited...
I fear the power of an individual who would take part in this rally would over-power justice and prevent a proper punishment.
However, if that isn't the case and these two do stand trial... I wouldn't be suprised if they were charged with vehicular homicide, possibly negligent homicide (if the victim was still alive when they fled the scene), or vehicular manslaughter (if they prove this was truely an un-avoidable accident not caused by wreckless driving).
Personally, I'd like to see them in jail for as long as possible. 👍
(not sure what the charges will be but I hope it is enough to not only punish the offender but also send a message to rally racers... This behavior will not be tolerated and punishment will be severe. )

 

[Keef]

why do people keep refering to the gumball as a race? its anything but that (you can argue that all you want with some videos you may have seen but ive seen plenty of videos where they are just crusing and not going flat out) the gumball as max(and other people like jodie kidd tony hawk etc) says is a rally,a road trip where people with expensive cars can get together and go for a long drive,NOT a race.

i do agree with what some people say,it was only a matter of time till something like this happened.

Are people trying to get there first? It's a race.

It is a race because the participants make it a race. Legally it's not. But legally it doesn't matter, because everything they do in the race is illegal, including turning it into a race.

 

[stumpydino]

was bound to happen somewhen. big headed playboys with too much money than driving skill, it was just a parade of showoffs anyway. think they are above the law, and then cowardly run away.

 

[land sea air]

It's an illegal race while out on public roads and you expect me to give my simpathy to this race? 💡 Uh... no.

the way you say it makes it sound like the Golf driver had something to do with it, even if thats not what you mean. The people in the golf were not involved in the "rally" and someone had their life taken from them by an idiot with too much money, not really something to lol about

 

[Kent]

DWA didn't mean anything about the Golf when that was said. That was said (clearly to me) about the race and the participants, not the innocent victim driving an economy car.

 

[Holdenhsvgtsr]

the female passenger has now died too
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novin...on=2&NrArticle=66196&NrIssue=337&NrSection=10

 

[Gonz013]

Regarding the crime commited...
I fear the power of an individual who would take part in this rally would over-power justice and prevent a proper punishment.

QUOTE (MakFax Online): "The Police filed a formal accusation against him for "heavy violation of traffic safety" and "failure to provide help to an injured person".

There are two people dead, and no mention of manslaughter / vehicular homicide/ similar charges?

 

[YSSMAN]

QUOTE (MakFax Online): "The Police filed a formal accusation against him for "heavy violation of traffic safety" and "failure to provide help to an injured person".

There are two people dead, and no mention of manslaughter / vehicular homicide/ similar charges?

Thats Eastern Europe for you. I have no idea how those social systems manage themselves. Yes, I understand they are still shaking-off the post-Soviet era, but lets get serious for a moment, a bit of cash can get you a long way out there... Not that all of the governments and legal systems of the rest of the West are that much better, but at least in the US and presumably the majority of the major Western European nations, there is a high-punishment for the high-crime by which these two have committed. Granted, a full-investigation of what happened is indeed required, and we must consider these men innocent until proven guilty, but lets be serious... I don't think the two old folks were doing 160 MPH in a Golf and slammed into a Porsche.