I think Will summed it up there, he is afterall in a position far better qualified to know how these incidents effect a family.
Age should not be bought into these discussions, as I have friends who are in their early 30's who are so fat, unfit and damn right useless that they couldn't even run for a bus, but my dad who is in his 60's is a fit as a fiddle. As long as a rider has passed the relevant medical requirements then why should he/ she not race?
Without meaning to be too blunt about the situation, 5 riders from the classics are gone this year, but that doesnt happen every year does it?? It was a bad year, upon reflection an accident can happen at every corner to every rider, this year it happened more than usual and its sad, but next year they might not be any at all??
Its a reaction/thread that appears every time we have loss of life then goes away and turns into a new thread which usually starts with " only 2 weeks to go now" , lets look forward to next year just like the riders who lost their lives would have been doing.
Regards
Russ
ps
If there are lessons to be learned then of course we do need to learn them.