Capt Kaos
Gladiator times - not at all. As a marshall for the BRDC, I am very much in the "firing line" when it comes to accidents on track. However, every motorsport ticket details that it is a dangerous activity and should be treated as such. The problem arises when Joe public arrives for his "bit of fun" without taking this into consideration and then squeals when something happens beacuse of human error / failure etc (of his own stupidity - witness the idiot walking across the track at Hockenheim a few years ago)
Sure, Armco, tyre barriers, construction methods, catch-fencing, gravel traps and run-off areas (among other things) all help to limit the danger, in the same way that current guidelines do at airshows. It is up to the public to satisfy themselves that sufficient precautions have been taken for their safety before they attend. This will not prevent accidents, nor incompetence, but at least one would be reasonably confident that appropriate steps had been taken.
If we ban everything that MIGHT possibly hurt somebody SOMETIME, this world will become a very dull place, full of very dull people - where do we stop - "let's ban steps, because people might trip"?