The New York Times consulted MAC Safety Consultants, Inc. owner, Chris Miranda, about Stadium Safety, and featured the owner in an article. Check out an excerpt below, as well as a link to the original New York Times article!
We have provided and excerpt from the article highlighting MAC Safety’s expertise:
Chris Miranda, who runs a consulting firm that has worked with colleges on stadium safety, said it’s only a matter of time before there’s more protection in front of the stands at major league games. He only hopes it doesn’t take a tragedy like the one in Ohio to make it happen.
A dozen years ago, Brittanie Cecil was struck in the left temple by a deflected shot at an NHL game in Columbus, Ohio. She walked out of the arena, but died two days later from a ruptured artery in her brain. She was two days shy of her 14th birthday.
If there had been protective netting behind the goal, which is now required in all NHL arenas, Brittanie would be 26 today, with so much of her life still ahead of her.
“I love baseball. I hope nothing like that ever happens,” Miranda said. “But it’s getting closer. How many near-misses do you have to have before there’s that one injury that isn’t the normal injury, that might be the worst one of all.”While Miranda acknowledges there would be significant costs associated with installing an extensive netting system at big league parks, it would surely be a puny percentage of the billions that baseball rakes in. It certainly sounds doable to extend the netting already in place behind home plate, holding it up with wiring attached to the upper levels. Softer popups — which present much less risk than line drives — could still reach the seats, giving fans a chance to grab those coveted foul balls.