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Originally Posted by Langers
Are you kidding me? The US has some of the least stringent driving laws in the western world. You are allowed to drive rustbuckets on the road, use radar detectors, no speed cameras, few red light cameras, your DUI limit is 0.08 (rather than 0.05 here or 0.00 in Scandanavian countries)... and so forth and so on. In Victoria, Australia, you can be booked for being 3km/h (2mph) over the limit, even though nation-wide design regulations require that the speedo only be accurate to within 10%.
Try England and Australia for draconian driving laws. US is a driver's utopia by comparison.
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I'm thinking more about our levels of enforcement in the wide open, unpopulated places, where most other countries I've driven in could really care less. I actually agree with strict enforcement in populated urban and suburban areas. And yes, I agree with you in that the U.S. is far more lenient than many other countries in that regard. The problem, as I see it, is that we have about the same level of enforcement and penalties for speeding in a crowded urban environment as we do out in the middle of bumfuk nowhere.
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Originally Posted by stuartj
In regard to insurance- these events are run by private companies for profit but under the auspices of the national motorsport body, and ultimately the FIA, the international body. So the events comply with FIA standards. Crews must carry appropriate licences (drivers need full circuit racing licences + relevant experiece) and a portion of the entry fees paid by crews (these are quite expensive) ultimately goes to governing motorsport body who underwrites the events.
In Australia, these companies have been quite successful in attracting support and money from regional govts as tourism events. After all, 200 or 300 crews of 3-10 people, couple of hundred volunteer marshalls coming into a region for 2-4 days plus spectators, media etc- lots of airfares, hotel beds, meals (not to mention tow trucks and panel shops). Getting local regional support is the key. After all, if the local govt wants it and supports it, getting road closures, getting police onside etc – is all pretty easy. I’d have thought a wine district- semi rural, tourism focus- would be the perfect setting.
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I had the wrong impression completely. I was assuming these tarmac rallies were locally organized and run by a host car club or something. I didn't realize it was run on such a highly professional level.
So, now that I understand a bit better what these rallies are all about, I'm left wondering as well. Why wouldn't area wineries, hotels, and other tourist related businesses welcome such an attraction to their neighborhood? I guess I don't have an answer for that. Seems such an obvious thing to do to bring the people in, particularly in the "off season" or something. In light of that, I wonder if anyone has ever tried.
Still, even in light of all of that, I honestly believe the general American public's motoring paradigms are an obstacle. "My, someone might get hurt", or "what about all the poor animals, the noise will scare them", and other such sniveling. It's a very powerful force to reckon with here. How do you deal with the hand-wringing ninnies down under? They are far too prominent up here...