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The Danger Must Be Removed

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On Sunday at Irvine Lake Brandy Branchflower, 9, of Burbank, was killed and another person was injured when a speedboat went out of control during the national drag-racing championship and ran aground on the shore lined with spectators.

In the aftermath, county authorities and race officials are investigating, trying to find ways to avoid another such tragedy. And Supervisor Bruce Nestande has called on the county Environmental Agency to file a report by next week aimed at revoking the county permit for the races unless the county can be convinced that the boat races can be conducted safely.

History indicates that safety may be hard to come by. Accidents, injuries and deaths have been part of the drag boat racing at Irvine Lake since they started in 1982. Three spectators were injured when a boat crashed into the bank in 1983. One driver was killed in another accident in 1983, another was killed last year and several have been injured.

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Brandy Branchflower was the first spectator killed. She must be the last.

According to racing officials, most of the spectators were between the start and finish lines behind a fence that ran along the shore. The out-of-control speedboat, which reportedly lost its steering mechanism, ran ashore about a quarter of a mile beyond the finish line, scattering onlookers and hitting the girl. She was with her family in what appeared to be an authorized area that was neither roped off nor fenced to keep people back from the shoreline.

The Irvine Co., which owns the land surrounding the lake but leases it to the concessionaires who contract with the race operators, has backed Nestande’s request for a review of the county permit and whatever action the county deems necessary.

But the most damning denouncement comes from some of the drag boat drivers themselves who have been openly criticizing what they consider unsafe racing conditions at the lake. They say that the course leaves no room for error, human or mechanical. It should. It must.

Racing in boats capable of speeds of 160 to 180 m.p.h. has its elements of danger. It may never be possible to entirely eliminate that danger for the participants, although they have the right to expect the course to be as safe as possible. But the spectators must never be at risk. The danger to them must be removed--or the races not held.

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