Letters from readers, June 1962

The Moss accident

Sir,

I am sure many readers will join me in expressing extreme disgust at the decision of the “popular” newspaper Editors to publish those dreadful pictures of Stirling Moss after his tragic accident at Goodwood on Easter Monday.

The publication of such pictures is not only inhuman and thoughtless, but gives the non-interested public a very distorted view of Motor Racing. In none of the “guilty” papers did I see a picture of the superb way in which Moss took Woocicote corner, or corrected incipient slides at Lavant corner earlier in the race, even though at that stage he had no chance of winning.

It seems a great shame that such photographers who took these photographs are allowed officially on the inside of the track, since the behaviour of some after the accident was most unhelpful and dangerous. They seemed to treat the tragedy as providing a “scoop” with which to increase their own prestige and sordid self-satisfaction.

DE Pither. Oxford.

[This has been a universal complaint almost since racing began— sensational newspapers see it one way, enthusiasts very differently. We thought well of the BBC, when they refused to show a film of a boxing match on “Sportsview ” because one of the contestants was unconscious as a result of injuries received during the fight—until the Moss accident, when more than once shots of his car crashing were shown in TV News, while Moss was unconscious in hospital. Why one rule for boxers, another for racing drivers ? This is a question we feel TV news-casters should answer.—ED]

Sir,

As a close eye witness of the accident in which Stirling Moss was injured, I felt compelled to write my own interpretation of this tragic event.

As both drivers approached the bend from Fordwater it was apparent that Moss was determined to overtake Hill at this stage in the race. This task, as later events showed, was beyond a driver of even his capabilities.

JK Bailin, Uxbridge,