Emphasis added. Do you really believe that load of unadulterated, moronic, idiotic, limp-wristed bullshit you typed?
If they really wanted to see James dead, why the hell did Jeremy say in interviews that he was concerned they were going to have a repeat of what happened with Richard after his crash in 2006? Why did the all rush straight to James' side after he fell? You wouldn't do that to someone you wanted to see dead. You'd just leave the person there. What you saw was a rare moment when they weren't "in character". No way in hell would any of them take a bump on the head lightly.
It was a freak accident. They really didn't see it coming. Not the crew. Not Richard. Not Jeremy. And not James.
Meanwhile, some of you need to acquaint yourselves with the concept of "kayfabe".
You need to acquaint yourself with basic off road recovery techniques as you are blissfully ignorant on the subject..
Bullshit? Freak accident? Hardly! Do you actually believe the BBC would traverse the badlands of the middle east off road without a backup crew including security, mechanics and off road experts? Nah, it was just Jeremy, Richard, James and a lone cameraman with a GoPro.
Anybody with 30 seconds experience in off road recovery can list several dangerous errors committed in the minutes leading up to May's injury.
From memory:
The stuck vehicle was nose up on a slope at about 30 to 40 degrees from horizontal. The tow vehicle was siting above the stuck vehicle in a horizontal position. The angle between the two was too large to attempt a safe recovery.
Viewed from above, the tow vehicle was pointed 30 to 45 degrees to the right of the stuck vehicle. Again, this angle was too large to attempt a safe recovery.
The tow hooks on both cars were not recovery points. The towline was attached to metal loops used to secure the cars on a ship's deck or car carrier. These are not reinforced recovery points and are not rated to be used as such. I was surprised that at least one didn't snap off.
I seem to recall the recovery strap was elastic. An elastic strap stores an enormous amount of kinetic energy which can easily exceed three or four times the vehicle's weight. And, that's only if both vehicles are close in line with each other, not 30 degrees off in two different planes. An elastic strap is used to build and store kinetic energy to recover vehicles from mud or sand. You stretch it out under tension and then it snaps the vehicle out oif the mud. A non elastic strap was called for in this situation.
The strap should have been put under light tension before starting the actual recovery, without excess length laying on the ground
When recovering a vehicle NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO STAND BETWEEN THE TWO VEHICLES OR WITHIN TWO LENGTHS OF THE RECOVERY STRAP IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
Recovery straps need to have a tarp or blanket draped over the midpoint in case the hardware on either end breaks to dampen the resulting flight. The hardware on the end of a recovery strap can fly at 500 MPH and go through sheet metal, windows and humans.
Proper safety procedures towing vehicle have its trunk lid raised as a shield with any available items stacked high in the truck to form a barrier between flying hardware and the driver. Likewise, the stuck vehicle should have its hood raised in front of the windshield to protect its driver.
May was standing between the two vehicles past a line drawn between the two. A first grader could easily see that when the slack on the strap was taken up, it would knock May off his feet.
Several people could have been killed, yet no one seemed to have noticed any safety concerns. I think they were hoping for something spectacular on video. People have ripped bumpers off, bent pick up truck frames, pulled bodies off military armored vehicle leaving the chassis stuck in mud and sent 3 pound steel shackles and 10 pound hitch balls flying through vehicles at 300+ MPH.
Recovery is probably the single most dangerous activity in off roading.
Search "off road recovery" on Youtube for stupid recovery attempts. The TopGear scene fits right in.
The TopGear crew was either supremely stupid, ignorant or just wanted to see James May kill himself.
Here's the right way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JBnxSqpuCM
Here's the wrong way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8lMxYnGIrw
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