Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill last week to prohibit public
examination of autopsy photographs unless a judge permits their release. Gov. Bush's action
comes after the Orlando
Sentinel filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see the autopsy photos of Dale
Earnhardt, the NASCAR driver
killed in an
accident during this year's Daytona 500.
Many of those critical of the Sentinel, including Dale Earnhardt's wife,
Teresa, claim the newspaper's request to view the photos is borne of the media's
increasingly sensationalist desire to shock the public with gruesome, violent images.
Print gory photos of Earnhardt's head injuries, and people will surely buy the paper.
But a closer examination of NASCAR's abominable safety record goes a long way toward
explaining why the Orlando Sentinel should not only be allowed to view Earnhardt's
autopsy photos, but also why the Sentinel should be permitted to print those photos —
as disturbing as they may be — for all to see.
In a little more than 11 years, 10 NASCAR drivers have died while driving close to
200 mph on racetracks around the country. What has been NASCAR's response time and time
again? "Oh well, they died doing what they loved. The show must go on."
When Adam Petty died on turn three of a Loudon, New Hampshire, racetrack in 2000, the
NASCAR tour continued without a hitch. Two months later, wouldn't you know, Kenny
Irwin died on turn three of that very same track. The week after Earnhardt died in
Daytona, in fact, there was a NASCAR race in Michigan in which Dale Earnhardt's son,
Dale Earnhardt Jr., was involved in a crash eerily similar to his father's. The show
must go on, indeed!
NASCAR
officials reportedly never asked to see copies of either Irwin or Petty's autopsy. New Hampshire's
medical examiner gave the same explanation that Florida's medical examiner gave for
Earnhardt's death: The crashes caused the drivers' heads to shoot forward, fracturing
the basal area of their skulls and damaging the nerve cells that control blood pressure,
heart rate and breathing. Sounds logical
enough. Still, the fact that NASCAR officials so readily accepted the results
without expressing any interest in learning the details so as to prevent future,
similar events, is a little disturbing.
An image comes to mind here. Have you ever seen those Primetime Live reports on
automobile crash safety tests? Those plastic dummies in the cars have all kinds of wires
and computers attached to various parts of their bodies. The testers put chalk on the
dummies' heads, knees and chests to determine where the point of impact occurs. After
the crashes, scientists view videotapes in slow motion. They can even estimate what
kinds of internal injuries might result from the crash.
NASCAR officials, on the other hand, say they don't need to see the autopsy photographs of
drivers killed during NASCAR races.
And it is NASCAR's apathy toward the safety of its drivers that inspired the Orlando
Sentinel to seek access to Earnhardt's autopsy record. If NASCAR is not going to promote
the safety of auto racing, maybe the Orlando Sentinel should.
Sure, NASCAR officials have implemented rules that govern the speed of racecars, and
they endorse the HANS (head and neck support) device. But they don't require racers
to wear a HANS device, which would maintain
the stability of the head and neck area during a crash.
After 10 deaths in almost as many years, are NASCAR officials
scurrying to install softer walls around its tracks? Hell no.
The truth is, NASCAR doesn't even have its own team of paramedics and emergency
service personnel to travel with the tour. The tracks must supply their own emergency
response teams, which doesn't exactly smack of the kind of uniform safety levels one of
the most dangerous sports should have.
By the way, the NFL, the NHL and MLB all supply their own, specially trained
emergency service personnel.
Perhaps if the reporters at the Orlando Sentinel had examined Earnhardt's autopsy
record, and crafted a detailed explanation of how exactly he died, it would spur an
outcry for more effective responses to NASCAR's contemptible safety record. Better yet, if the
Orlando Sentinel had published Earnhardt's autopsy photos — cracked skull, blood,
oozing brain matter and all — perhaps all those fans who turned out at Earnhardt's
corporate headquarters in North Carolina would descend on NASCAR's headquarters
demanding change.
In the meantime, we'll all just wait until another racecar driver hits a wall and
cracks his skull.
E-mail Ben Welch at ben.welch at rcn dot com.
Days of Blunder