The Tony Stewart-Kevin Ward, Jr Sprint Car Race Death
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 2:29 pm
Over the weekend, the tragic car crash death of Kevin Ward, Jr at the hands of Tony Stewart made headlines. Tony Stewart showed a lot of sadness and remorse and decided not to attend another race scheduled for the following day. Several articles such as this one http://www.si.com/racing/2014/08/10/ton ... ifications states that Stewart faces several criminal charges and civil lawsuits in addition to a loss of endorsement deals.
The rather scary and graphical video has been replayed countless times and I'm surprised how Stewart could possibly face any charges of any kind. As tragic and terrible as Kevin Ward's death, I'd say he completely brought it upon himself and made some very dumb, idiotic, foolish, and unfortunately fateful road rage decisions that could have been avoided entirely if made some more mature decisions. Ward may have been relatively young at the age of 20, but as a professional race car driver even 20 year-olds should know basic black and white decisions.
In a professional car race, crashes are expected from time to time and after a crash the most important thing is that nobody is hurt and if someone is hurt, get medical help right away. In this particular case, a minor collision by Tony Stewart caused Kevin Ward, Jr to go off the track and possibly exit the race. The most important thing was that Ward was unhurt as he was able to leave his vehicle on his own. Now IF Ward really believed that Stewart intentionally forced him off the track then there are legal resources in such kind of situations. He should have filed an official complaint to the race organizers and if after investigation the accusations were valid, then the officials could disqualify Stewart and in more serious cases, fine or suspend him. But for Ward to leave his vehicle and then walk right into the track with lots of vehicles at high speed heading towards him in an attempt to flag down another driver for the sake of retribution is essentially suicide.
As terrible as the incident is, Tony Stewart shouldn't face any charges of any kind because IMHO Ward is 100% responsible over his tragic death.
The rather scary and graphical video has been replayed countless times and I'm surprised how Stewart could possibly face any charges of any kind. As tragic and terrible as Kevin Ward's death, I'd say he completely brought it upon himself and made some very dumb, idiotic, foolish, and unfortunately fateful road rage decisions that could have been avoided entirely if made some more mature decisions. Ward may have been relatively young at the age of 20, but as a professional race car driver even 20 year-olds should know basic black and white decisions.
In a professional car race, crashes are expected from time to time and after a crash the most important thing is that nobody is hurt and if someone is hurt, get medical help right away. In this particular case, a minor collision by Tony Stewart caused Kevin Ward, Jr to go off the track and possibly exit the race. The most important thing was that Ward was unhurt as he was able to leave his vehicle on his own. Now IF Ward really believed that Stewart intentionally forced him off the track then there are legal resources in such kind of situations. He should have filed an official complaint to the race organizers and if after investigation the accusations were valid, then the officials could disqualify Stewart and in more serious cases, fine or suspend him. But for Ward to leave his vehicle and then walk right into the track with lots of vehicles at high speed heading towards him in an attempt to flag down another driver for the sake of retribution is essentially suicide.
As terrible as the incident is, Tony Stewart shouldn't face any charges of any kind because IMHO Ward is 100% responsible over his tragic death.