The GCR and You

[John Nesbitt]

(Part 4 of a series, 'You and the GCR')

Part 4 - Signals

Or, But I thought you meant ...

There are very limited means of signalling to/between drivers. It is therefore important to remember what signals are prescribed by the GCR, and to not confuse matters. Let's review GCR-mandated signals.

Official to Driver Signals

1. Flags

Flags are the only means that officials have to communicate with drivers on track. The flag meanings are set out in GCR 6.11. Please note the injunction, "They shall be obeyed immediately and without question."

Please note also GCR 5.5.4.B: "The yellow flag shall be displayed when a corner worker or other personnel move to a less protected or unprotected area." Whenever you see a yellow flag (standing or waving), proceed on the assumption that one or more workers are in an unprotected location.

If signals lights are used as a supplement to flags, the event supps will describe their usage [6.11.3].

2. GCR-Mandated Signals

On the grid, you will receive signals at the 5-minute and 1-minute marks. At 1 minute, crews must clear the grid and cars not in position start from the back [6.1.2.F].

If the field is not properly formed, the Starter will wave off the start by "... by making no flag movements whatsoever, and at the same time shake his or her head in a negative manner, to indicate that a start shall not take place. This will inform the drivers to proceed on another pace lap. Drivers will raise one hand to indicate that the start is aborted." [6.2.2.H].

3. Common Practice

Flaggers may indicate by hand signals that drivers should traverse an incident scene on one side of the road or the other. This will always be done in combination with the appropriate flags, which are the official signals.

Also, if you go off-course, flaggers will, if possible, give you hand signals to help you safely re-enter the course. This is not mandated by the GCR, and these signals do not absolve you of your responsibility to drive safely.


Driver to Driver Signals

1. Mandated Hand Signals (GCR 6.8.2)

"A. Before entering the pits from the course, the driver should signal by raising an arm.
B. An overtaken driver shall point to the side on which an overtaking driver should pass.
C. The driver of a stalled car shall raise both arms to indicate that he or she shall not move until the course is clear."

2. Full Course Yellow (GCR 6.3.2)

"Drivers of cars that are disabled or cannot keep the pace should not hold up the field. These drivers shall signal that their vehicle is disabled by raising an arm, pulling to the side of the course, and staying well off the racing line. Other drivers may safely pass the signaling vehicle."


And that's it.


Unfortunately, we do see other signals which confuse more than they help.

1. Flaggers showing a waving yellow for an incident off-track.

This is a well-meant gesture, usually done for an incident close to the track or a more serious incident. It is bad practice because it dilutes the proper message, "Waving on the paving; standing on the grass", and induces drivers to start discounting the waving yellow.

I don't buy the argument that the waving yellow (or any flag) is to 'protect' the workers. A flag doesn't protect anyone; it informs.

The emergency workers and flaggers are protected when we - the drivers - first, see the flag; and, second, obey it. The onus is on the driver to see and obey. A driver causing a second incident in a yellow flag zone can expect no mercy from the SOM.

2. Drivers who start waving their arms in crisis situations.

Forgive me, but that is what they do. I have witness statements and videos. Typically, this happens under a yellow, when one driver is trying to draw other drivers' attention to the flag. As often as not, the following driver (who has already seen the yellow) interprets it as a point by, and passes. This unexpected move simply compounds the danger inherent in whatever triggered the yellow and exposes the passing driver to penalty.

Sometimes a driver will start waving to warn following drivers about an incident immediately in front on the road. Again, the following driver will (should) have seen the incident and/or flag. The driver doing the waving is merely distracting himself from the task at hand, which is to safely navigate the incident zone.


The bottom line is, don't make signals to other drivers except as set out in the GCR.


Tune in again soon for our next episode, 'Mechanical Protests'.

[Greg Amy]

Sometimes a driver will start waving to warn following drivers about an incident immediately in front on the road. Again, the following driver will (should) have seen the incident and/or flag. The driver doing the waving is merely distracting himself from the task at hand, which is to safely navigate the incident zone.

John, I'm going to disagree with you on this one. While I agree with your characterization of "should have seen the incident and/or flag", we both know that's not always the case. There have been numerous times when someone has been tucked up under my ass (drafting, setting up for a pass, in formation toward the green flag) where a vigorous wave has gotten the attention of the passing driver to the situation at hand. In fact, in our driver's schools we actually teach drivers to wave during a race-start-wave-off.

Case in point, last weekend's crash at LRP. Had the leading driver waved vigorously to catch the attention of the trailing driver (assuming the leading driver had the clock cycles and car control availability to make that happen), I have zero doubt that this situation could have turned out differently.

Nope I strongly disagree, and should I be placed in that situation again I will most certainly warn the driver behind me of a dramatically changing situation via a vigorous hand/arm wave. If the trailing driver misinterprets a vigorous wave back-and-forth as a point-by, well, not my problem as it's obvious that person has totally lost situational awareness, and nothing else I could have done would have improved it...

Greg Amy


P.S., Nicely-done series. Looking forward to the next one(s). Please do consider combining all these into a PDF doc for future downloads.

[spnkzss]

John, I'm going to disagree with you on this one. While I agree with your characterization of "should have seen the incident and/or flag", we both know that's not always the case. There have been numerous times when someone has been tucked up under my ass (drafting, setting up for a pass, in formation toward the green flag) where a vigorous wave has gotten the attention of the passing driver to the situation at hand. In fact, in our driver's schools we actually teach drivers to wave during a race-start-wave-off.

Case in point, last weekend's crash at LRP. Had the leading driver waved vigorously to catch the attention of the trailing driver (assuming the leading driver had the clock cycles and car control availability to make that happen), I have zero doubt that this situation could have turned out differently.

Nope I strongly disagree, and should I be placed in that situation again I will most certainly warn the driver behind me of a dramatically changing situation via a vigorous hand/arm wave. If the trailing driver misinterprets a vigorous wave back-and-forth as a point-by, well, not my problem as it's obvious that person has totally lost situational awareness, and nothing else I could have done would have improved it...

Greg Amy


P.S., Nicely-done series. Looking forward to the next one(s). Please do consider combining all these into a PDF doc for future downloads.

+1 on everything tGA said, including the PDF doc. That would be great to hand out at a driver's school.

[John Nesbitt]

John, I'm going to disagree with you on this one. While I agree with your characterization of "should have seen the incident and/or flag", we both know that's not always the case. There have been numerous times when someone has been tucked up under my ass (drafting, setting up for a pass, in formation toward the green flag) where a vigorous wave has gotten the attention of the passing driver to the situation at hand. In fact, in our driver's schools we actually teach drivers to wave during a race-start-wave-off.

Greg,

I recognize that there are two sides to this. As a steward, perhaps I tend to see the bad outcomes from misplaced signals.

On waved-off starts, the GCR requires a hand signal (see corrected original post - I dropped a sentence).

John

[Racerlinn]

John, agree that this has been a great series.
But...also have to disagree about in-car hand signal. I have had two distinct instances in the past couple years where my vigorous in-car hand waving (with my right hand) has kept a following car from plowing me. Both involved following cars tucked up close, once being a spinning car directly in front of me and the second when I missed a shift. After both races, the following driver told me he appreciated the warning.
A point-by is much different from a vigorous wave.

[pballance]

Thanks John for the reminders, I know I can use them.

As a relatively new driver I was taught, and continue to use the raised arm to indicate to the cars behind me that I am suddenly slowing. Whether this is for a yellow flag, waving or standing, that I have observed, or a mechanical condition of my car. Am I wrong to do so?
For me, it is good common sense and I have had other drivers do the same as I approach them. It is different than a point by and easily understood by the following car if they see the raised hand.

FWIW I had 6 lanes of interstate lit up by brake lights Tuesday afternoon as people dropped from 75+ to dead stop for a tractor trailer on fire on the median wall. Not only did I check my mirrors and leave myself an escape path I realized, after coming to a stop, I had raised my hand to alert the drivers behind me. I feel much safer on track than with the idiots I normally commute with.

Paul

[shwah]

How do we set up a bump draft without driver hand signals?