Her death is sad indeed but whatta chick! She's a regular on the local 'street luge' circuit at 50 years old!! I reckon good on her for being so adventurous! However, I'm disappointed to see the Authorities predictable response below:
... Acting Inspector Pemberton said luge was a restricted activity and required a permit, and it is believed the two riders involved this morning had not been granted permission for the activity that led to the tragedy.
He said those engaging in such sports needed to be careful. "Our message is high risk activities like luge and public roads don't mix," he said.
"If you want to engage in high risk activities do it in an area that's designed for them and don't put yourself or others at risk."
Luging is a form of street-sledding where participants lie on a board with wheels and steer down hills and other steep inclines reaching speeds of up to 140km per hour...
'Not been granted permission'... for f*ck sake, do we need a permit for EVERYTHING?! These people are on the roads on the weekends at the break of day and they ride until the traffic starts to pick up. Then they go home. They dress appropriately, they ride when there's virtually no-one around and the participants do their best to minimise all risks. These Luge people dress like Moto GP Riders and at a bare minimum always wear a crash helmet.
'Do it in an area designed for this sort of thing'. Yeah right; and just where the f*ck is Brisbane's designated Street Luge Circuit, ya Cockhead?!
And one last thing - these things can attain 150kph in Olympic competition on specially designed tracks, but on Mt Coot-Tha they're no-where near that speed at all. Check the You Tube vid in ol' mates link and tell me what speed they're doing. I'd guess 60 to 80 kph tops. People fly down that hill on bicycles at greater speeds and they're wearing lycra and pissy vented half helmets!
Rant over.
