Friday, April 24, 2015

Spectator Risk

A woman was struck in the head by a foul ball at a Pirate baseball game recently. The ball was stopped by a screen but pushed the screen enough to hit her and knock her unconscious.
Spectator injuries are a specialized risk, usually in games with projectiles or cars.
In 2002, 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil died two days after being struck in the head by a puck at a Columbus Blue Jackets ice hockey game. She was struck by a puck that had ricocheted into the stands off the stick of a defenseman and then off of another spectator. Her death was the result of a damaged artery she suffered when her head was hit and snapped backward. 
Three other spectator deaths have been reported in hockey games due to injuries sustained from a puck during a game. All three occurred at minor league games where the vertical barrier between fans and the ice is shorter than at NHL arenas.
After Cecil’s death, the NHL forced all teams to install behind the goals 18-foot mesh nets, designed to catch pucks that fly above the standard eight-foot glass barrier, beginning with the 2002-03 season. Brittanie Cecil’s parents received a $1.2 million settlement from the NHL after the incident, as if that would be meaningful.
Baseballs batted into the stand are known to have caused injuries, though never death. Auto racing has seen a number of spectator deaths from cars and car parts crashing into the stands. In 1998, three spectators were killed at Michigan International Speedway when a tire from Adrian Fernandez’s race car flew into the stands. A fan was killed in a similar incident at the Indianapolis 500 in 1987.
In Europe deaths occur at soccer matches from the European tradition of homicidal rioting.

No comments: