The Death of Ayrton Senna
Often in people's lives an event can happen that is forever remembered as one of the most important. Be it a family story, or something that has absolutely nothing to do with the person, the event is deeply engraved in the individual's mind and will always stay with him or her.
This happened when I was twelve years old. I have been a car-racing fan since the age of nine and ever since I started getting into the world of the Formula 1 World Championship, one driver started capturing my attention more and more. His name was Ayrton Senna, of Brazil. A three-time World Champion, whom I saw in 1994, after two seasons of driving for the same mediocre team (while still managing to win a few races), poised to win his fourth title, driving for the best team in the sport, Williams-Renault. Even after crashing in the first two races of the season, everybody, including me, saw him as the main contender. Then came the third race of the season, in a little country of San Marino, in the small city of Imola…
The racing weekend started off on April 29th, 1994 on a very sour note. During free practice, the Jordan of the new Formula 1 star, Rubens Barrichello, crashed at a speed close to 150 miles per hour, slamming headfirst into a wall of tires. The driver was knocked unconscious and transported to a hospital, where Senna, his countryman, was the first person Rubens saw when he came to. Next day, during the qualifying session, a promising Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed when a wing on his Simtek ripped off on a speed of about 170 miles per hour. The car then hit a concrete wall, Roland suffering extensive damage to his head. He died on the spot, forcing Senna to say to a friend and rival of his, Frenchman Alain Prost, that if he could avoid racing the next day, he would. Nevertheless, unable to do much himself, Senna won the pole position and was to start first in Sunday's race.
Sunday's race started off on a tragic note as well. A young Portuguese driver, Pedro Lamy, did not see the stalled Benetton of a Finn Yurki Yarvi Lehto, slamming his Lotus into Lehto's car at a high speed. The debris flew all over the spectator's stands, injuring five people. One of them was hurt so bad, he went into a coma.
People are more likely to remember events that have more emotion attached to them. Studies have shown a correlation of 71% between participants’ ratings of their memories vividness and their ratings of how emotional events had been (Reisberg, Heuer, McLean & O’Shaughnessy, 1988,
What do events like the assassination of John F. Kennedy, The Challenger space shuttle disaster, and hurricane Andrew that shook Miami have in common? All these events can be remembered by the people who experienced it due to flashbulb memory. Flashbulb memories were defined by R. Brown and J. Kulik (1977) as vivid, detailed, and long-lasting memories for attributes of the reception context of public news (Curci, A., & Lanciano, T., 2009). The people who experience such huge events are certain that their flashbulb memories are very accurate and can give in detail what occurred to them in those events (Schwartz, 2013). Furthermore events that generate flashbulb memories are usually very surprising and emotionally arousing and are perceived by the subject as personally consequential (Emotion & Memory 1993). But not all memories need to be negative and tragic. Events like the first day of first grade, your first romantic kiss, your first day at a new job, or recital of your wedding vows can also be described as flashbulb memories (Schwartz, 2013).
This conclusion was arrived at by the Royal Courts of Justice in London who after 23 hours produced the verdict that Henri’s ‘gross negligence’ contributed to the crash. Henri Paul was driving the couple whilst under the influence. This alcohol caused him to drive more erratically, and crash into the tunnel pillar. Witnesses say that Paul was drinking at the Ritz bar on the night of the crash. This was confirmed by bar receipts found after the crash. A medical expert concluded that Paul had had ten aperitifs, and was twice over the British driving limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol, and three times over the French one of 50 milligrams of alcohol when he drove the couple that night. French prosecutors say that his alcohol levels were between 1.73 g/L and 1.75 g/L (approximately 0.17% mass/vol.) at 12:25 am, following the crash. It has been estimated by investigators that the Mercedes-Benz crashed into the tunnel pillar driving at 105 km/h, over the speed limit of 50km/h. This was more than double the speed limit. The official verdict was that the crash was in equal part by Henri Paul’s drunkenness and the pursuing
Over Evel Knievel’s motorcycle career of around thirty years or more, he performed hundreds of stunts and acquired an absurd amount of broken and fractured bones. Even though almost every single one of his stunts failed horrifically, everyone, including himself, considered the shows successful. If Evel Knievel was still alive at the end of the day, then all was well with the world.
Everyone has memories. Memories may be recollections as well as fragments of moments or occurrences. Be it good or be it bad, a memory can have an everlasting effect on the everyday lives of an entirety of people, or even on that of an average person; some memories may contain the power to create fears or even spark anxieties, while other memories may help to inspire or to encourage those to do things that he or she might not find themselves partake in otherwise. Here, there will be shown several ways by the means in which memories can be of both positive and negative effects when it comes to the impacts they create on the lives and actions of people who remember. Two literary works that will be used throughout this paper are Ray Bradbury’s
51 people died That day, another dyed several weeks later and a 53rd victim died in 1990 from injuries sustained in the wreck.
According to a June 2, Newsweek article, Tracie Alfieri became enraged by the manner in which Rene Andrews pulled into her lane. Alfieri tried to pass Andrews on the right then cut in front and hit the brakes causing Andrews to swerve into a stopped tractor resulting in the loss of Andrews' 6 month old unborn child. Tracie Alfieri was convicted this May of vehicular manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison. (Newsweek)2. In the most commonly cited incident of road rage, which ended in three deaths: Narkey Terry and Billy Canipe became involved in a game of cat and mouse because Canipe was moving too slowly in the left lane.
...These specifics recalled consist of things which, under normal conditions, we probably would not have ever remembered. The number of detailed facts retained about a particular situation is usually commensurate to the intensity of involvement or proximity to the action in question; therefore, it can be reasonably concluded that while these memories are not always perfectly engrained into our minds, interesting arguments exist which support the possibility of substantial and long-term recall of these matters.
There are things in life which have an impact on us, an event, a place, movie, a person and many other experiences influence our thoughts and emotions. People also feel touched by things they read. There are books which make you cry or keep you in tension all these things are considered memorable.
Yesterday, beloved citizen Mikhail Alexandrovich (Berlioz) passed away in a horrific accident. According to witnesses, he slipped on an ice-like substance and was thrown onto the rails of the tramway. One witness said, “He fell flat on his back and hit the back of his neck against the cobblestones.” In the moments leading up to his death, Berlioz saw the “horror-stricken face” of the female streetcar driver. She pulled on the electric emergency brake, causing the car to jump and shattering the glass windows in the process. Sadly, the steel wheel of the streetcar had already run over Berlioz’ neck, decapitating him and causing his head to roll down onto the stones of Bronnaya Street.
such as important people, mistakes you made, things left undone or words left unsaid guilt, regret etc.
Memory is one of the greatest gifts a person can have, even though they can cause people pain and bad memories occasionally. People will always have their good memories to look back on.
Memory is the tool we use to learn and think. We all use memory in our everyday lives. Memory is the mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experiences. We all reassure ourselves that our memories are accurate and precise. Many people believe that they would be able to remember anything from the event and the different features of the situation. Yet, people don’t realize the fact that the more you think about a situation the more likely the story will change. Our memories are not a camcorder or a camera. Our memory tends to be very selective and reconstructive.
This is not the only occasion in my life that has shaped my identity but it has changed me the most. My parents got divorced when I was only eleven years old. I did not foresee the divorce coming, as I was never in their presence when they argued. Then, one night, they asked my little brother and me to take a seat at the dining room table. They then told me that they were getting a divorce and my mouth instanously went dry. I cried so much that my nose stuffed up to the point where I could not smell. My eyes began streaming with tears, and through my tears I could see my brother sitting across from me looking very confused. The only thing that I could hear were my parents trying to comfort me with their soft words, and I could feel their warm arms holding me. I eventually calmed down enough to go to bed, but the memory of my parents telling me they were getting a divorce will stay with me forever. This changes how I act every day and therefore my identity. I am not the only person with a story like this. Everybody has a story like mine from their past that has shaped their
“ A family of five was traveling to Florida for a family vacation when the family was suddenly struck between two semi’s. The EMT’s pronounced the whole family dead at the scene earlier that night. Police have yet to release details on what the cause of the accident was but said it was an unexpected incident”, the local news reported said.