No-one wants to take away the thrill of the TT but some extra restrictions are still needed because some areas remain a danger for spectators.

This was the view of Hilary Musson, an ex-TT racer who was seriously injured when a bike left the course while she was marshalling at the 26th Milestone during the centenary event in 2007.

‘I can’t understand how anyone was allowed to put up a seating area there. I certainly would never have sat there. They are supposed to be carrying out risk assessments all the time,’ she said.

‘I was thankful my daughter was not marshalling down there. It could have been so much worse too. It’s hard to explain to people that if a bike goes out of control they think they will be able to jump out of the way but sometimes it’s just not possible.

‘For years it’s been an accident waiting to happen, that area at the bottom of Bray Hill.’

Mrs Musson, who was a competitor from 1978 to 1985, added she was anxious the incident would not be dismissed as ‘just a freak accident.’

‘The point is, there’s no such thing as a freak accident: an accident is an accident. People called my accident a freak accident - it was unusual but the word ‘‘freak’’ is not appropriate.’

Six years after the 26th Milestone accident in which rider Marc Ramsbotham lost his life along with two spectators, Mrs Musson still needs crutches to walk and lives with the consequences on a daily basis.

A wholesale reassessment of the TT course resulted in extra prohibited areas being introduced - despite protests from many fans - but Mrs Musson says measures brought in after 2007 were long overdue.

‘They did a lot to change things and it was much better. A lot of progress was made but it was all down to that accident. The fact is that bikes are so much more powerful now and if anything happens they are going to go a long way.’

But she added it was a fine balancing act between making it safer for spectators – and competitors – and creating a completely sanitised event.

‘It’s a great challenge for competitors and it’s something different for spectators too. They want to see competitors wrestling with the bikes and that element of danger for some of us is what we enjoy. I don’t want to completely lose that.

‘There is absolutely no way I would condemn the TT but there are still some places that I think are too exposed. There are areas in Kirk Michael and on May Hill in Ramsey for example.

‘I don’t want people to think I’m only saying this because of what happened to me, I just think we need to think about it sensibly. I’m in no way saying it should be stopped: none of us wants that.’


John Turner
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