Work a rally radio post with practice cars and made-up situations: stage start, mid-stage, finish and net control. Log the cars, make the calls, and handle the emergencies. Your round is graded when you finish, with the rule or procedure behind every answer.
Radio Warning PointRadio point ahead
Radio PointThe radio is here
New to rally radio? Start with the study guide.Everything the drills and exams test, in plain words. About 20 minutes, and optional.
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Study guide · rally radio
Radio Drill study guide
Everything the practice rounds and exams test, from signing on to closing the stage. It's built on the LSPR 2026 Radio Communications Guide, the 2026 ARA Rally Competition Rules (RCR) for what crews do, the FCC amateur rules, and common US rally net practice. Reading it takes about 20 minutes. It isn't required, but it covers every answer the exams look for.
Words you'll hear
In plain words: Rally radio has its own vocabulary. Here's a quick, friendly translation of the terms you'll hear most.
Term
What it means
Net control
The station that runs the radio net. Every call goes through it.
Directed net
A net where you talk to net control, not straight to other stations.
Tactical call
Your post's name on the air: Start 3, Finish 3, or M23 for a mid-stage point.
Call sign
Your FCC amateur license call, like KE8ABC. You say it at the end of your calls.
M post / radio point
A radio station partway through a stage, named for its intersection number.
000, 00, 0
Course cars that check the stage before the first competitor. The 0 car declares it ready.
Sweep
The vehicle that follows the last competitor and clears the stage.
DNS
Did not start: a car that never entered the stage.
SOS / OK
Signs a stopped crew shows: SOS means they need help, OK means they don't.
Hold
Net control stops more cars entering the stage until it says otherwise.
RallySafe
The in-car tracking and safety unit used at National events.
Clerk of the Course
The official who runs the rally and decides about stopping or cancelling stages.
Stage signs
In plain words: Every control and point on a stage is marked with the same round ARA signs. Know them on sight. The blue radio sign is where crews come to find you.
Time control warningYellow clock. The control zone starts here; a time control is ahead.25–50 m before the red clock
Time controlRed clock. The time control, where the card is timed.50–200 m before the start
Stage startRed sign, black flag. The start line of the stage.End of control zone 25–50 m after it
End of control zoneBeige, three black stripes. The control zone ends here.After the start, and after the stop
Danger signYellow, "DANGER!" with a black dot. Warns of a hazard.On the stage
Radio warning pointYellow, lightning arrow. A radio point is ahead.About 100 m before the radio point
Radio pointBlue, lightning arrow. The radio is here; crews stop here to report.On the stage
Medical point warningYellow, white cross. A medical point is ahead.About 100 m before the medical point
Medical pointBlue, white cross. Medical crew here. Medical points always include a radio point.On the stage
Flying finish warningYellow, chequered flag. The flying finish is ahead.100–200 m before the flying finish
Stage flying finishRed, chequered flag. The stage time stops here. No stopping between here and the stop.End of the stage
Post finish warning boardsWhite boards with three, two, then one blue stripe, counting down to the stop.Between the flying finish and the stop
Stop controlRed, STOP. Crews stop here for their finish time.Usually 200–500 m after the flying finish
The signs in order
Signs and distances are from the ARA Stage Sign Setup sheet; distances are approximate. Your event's sign plan comes first.
1. Your job, in one line
In plain words: You're the eyes and ears of the stage. Log every car, pass on what matters, and keep the air clear for anything urgent. Officials make the big decisions; you get them the facts fast.
Keep an accurate log of every car at your post. Your log is how net control tracks cars, and the backup when RallySafe loses one.
Send routine reports at the right moments, and emergency traffic immediately.
Pass every instruction from net control to your start, finish or stage captain, and confirm it on the air.
Report facts, not guesses. Say who gave you information you didn't see yourself.
Stay at your post until net control releases you.
2. The net and your call signs
In plain words: Everything goes through net control. Use your post's name to make calls short, and add your own call sign at the end so you stay legal.
It's a directed net. Every call goes to net control. To talk to another station, ask net control first.
Tactical calls name your post: Start 3, Finish 3, and M plus the intersection number for mid-stage posts (M23).
First call of the day: "KE8ABC signing on as Start 3." Wait for net control to acknowledge. Report when you're on station and when your location is ready.
Every call after that: tactical call, your traffic, wait for the acknowledgment, then your FCC call sign. You must identify at the end of a communication and at least every 10 minutes (47 CFR 97.119).
When net control calls you, answer promptly: "Start 12, go ahead."
Stay by your radio. Tell net control if you'll be away more than a minute, if your battery is about to die, and when you're back.
How the net works
3. Making a call
In plain words: Listen first, keep it short, and say numbers so they can't be misheard.
Listen before you key. Press, wait a second or two, speak, wait a second or two, release. Repeaters and links add delay.
Plain language, no 10-codes. Car numbers one digit at a time ("one one seven", never "one seventeen"). Times in 24-hour form ("fourteen zero seven").
Spell letters with the phonetic alphabet: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta and so on.
Relaying for another station? Say so and for whom, and pass the message exactly as given.
Secure your mic so nothing presses it, and set the time-out timer to 2 minutes. A stuck mic blocks the whole net. If net control has been quiet for a while, check yours.
Weak signal? Move the car or antenna even 10 feet. If the primary frequency is unusable, go to the backup or text net control.
Anatomy of a call
4. Your log and routine reports
In plain words: Write down every car, but only say the few things net control needs. If it asks, your log has the answer.
Log every car: its number and the minute it started, passed or finished, in the order you actually saw them. Note anything unusual: out of order, damage, a flat, a slow car.
Two cars together get the same minute, in the order they reached you.
Can't read a number? Don't guess. Log what you can, and keep a total count. A wrong number can send the sweep to the wrong place.
Routine reports: arrival on station, location ready, each course car (000, 00, 0), the first and last competitor at control positions, and the sweep.
Don't report every car on the air. Net control may ask for your count or the last car to pass.
Completing your radio log
In plain words: Put who you are and where you are at the top, then give every car its own line with a running count. The last line always tells net control how many cars and which one was last.
At the top of the sheet: your name, your FCC call sign and your assignment location (your tactical call, like M23 or Start 3, and the stage).
Every car gets a line: the running count, the time (24-hour, to the minute) and the car number. Add a note for anything unusual.
Keep the count running as you go. When net control asks how many cars have passed and the last car number, read them off your last line.
Can't read a number? Still give it a line, a time and a count, and note "number not read". Never guess. As cars get muddy and it gets dark, the count may be all you can keep.
Two cars together get two lines with the same minute, in the order they reached you.
At the start, a car that never enters the stage is noted as a DNS and isn't counted.
Your log is the backup when RallySafe loses cars in terrain or weather.
Completing your radio log
5. A stage, in order
In plain words: Stations ready, course cars through, net control opens it, cars run, the sweep follows, and net control closes it once every car is accounted for.
Every station is on station and ready.
000 and 00 check the setup and clear spectators.
The 0 car runs last and declares the stage ready.
Net control opens the stage and tells the start when to send the first car. No competitor starts before that.
Competitors run. Stations log them.
After the last car, net control sends the sweep, usually a minute or two later.
The stage closes only when the sweep reaches the finish and every car is accounted for.
Nobody drives on a closed stage without net control's permission, and an emergency vehicle on a live stage means no more competitors go in behind it.
Where the radios sit on a stage
6. Stage start radio
In plain words: You know exactly who went into the stage and when. Everyone else tracks cars from your list.
Log each car with the minute it actually left, in the order it actually started. A late car that slots in goes on the log where it really started, with a note.
A car that never enters is a DNS. Note it and leave it out of the cars that entered.
Report the first and last competitor's start, and when the sweep goes in.
A hold from net control goes to the start crew immediately, even if a car is on the line. Confirm it on the air and log the time.
Cars to go: the start list, minus cars started, minus DNS.
Problems like a dark RallySafe unit go to net control quickly. Whether the car starts is the officials' decision.
7. Mid-stage radio (M posts)
In plain words: You're a checkpoint inside the stage. If a car doesn't show up, you're often the first to know.
Log every passage in the order you see it. A faster car catching a slower one is normal.
A car that should have reached you hasn't, and cars that started after it have passed? It's stopped somewhere before you. Report the facts.
Crews may stop to pass on news. Give net control the car number, location, OK or SOS, whether the road is blocked, and who told you.
Spectators in a no-go zone, a vehicle on the stage, or a fully blocked road go to net control at once.
Never step onto a live stage to signal a car.
If the stage is stopped, keep logging. Crews see a red flag on RallySafe and slow to transit speed.
Radio points at blocked junctions
In plain words: Mid-stage radio points usually sit where a side road meets the stage, with the blocker. The blue radio point sign goes beside the stage right at the junction, with the yellow radio warning before it on the same side. Park off the traveled route, blocking the side road, and leave the escape route open.
Crossroads, stage goes straight (ARA blocker guide)Crossroads, stage turns (ARA blocker guide)T, stage turns away from the blocked road (ARA blocker guide)Y (ARA blocker guide)K: a side road leaving at a shallow angle (ARA blocker guide)Hairpin (ARA blocker guide)
Source: ARA Typical Blocker Positioning V2.0; ARA Stage Sign Setup; LSPR 2026 Radio Communications Guide.
8. Finish radio
In plain words: You close the loop. Every car on the start list ends up on your list or has a known reason it didn't.
Log finishers in arrival order with real times. Report the first and last competitor and the sweep.
Cars still out: starters minus finishers minus cars known stopped. Each one has to be found.
A car towed out isn't a finisher. It comes off the list of cars still out, but don't report it as finished.
Finishers who saw a stopped car are how net control learns where it is. Pass on the details and who reported them.
Don't give crews stage times. Official times come from the flying finish timing and RallySafe.
Overtaking complaints go to officials, not the net (RCR 5.17).
Stay at your post until net control releases you, even between runs.
Blocking the start and finish
In plain words: Both ends of every stage get a physical block that only a competitor can get past. The finish end matters most: a vehicle that gets in there meets the rally cars head-on.
Blocking the start and finish (ARA blocker guide)
The finish exit matters most: anyone who gets in there meets the rally cars head-on. Even a minute's delay gives the Stage Captain time to warn the stage or stop it.
From the ARA guide
A physical roadblock, chicane or barricade goes at the start and finish ends of every stage. Two vehicles staggered as a narrow block, so only a competitor can pass, works well.
At least one marshal or blocker in a vehicle stays with it, moving ahead or back to let competitors through and blocking anyone else.
At least one marshal or blocker at each closure must have clear radio contact with their control radio. That matters most at the finish, which faces oncoming traffic.
At the start, the sweep team in the control zone can do the blocking. The finish has no sweep staff, so it needs an extra blocker with a vehicle and radio. Unoccupied staff vehicles at the ATC, start or FTC can be used.
Landowner or forestry gates near the start or finish can be staffed by a radio operator and opened only for approved rally traffic.
Ideally the block is where the stage road leaves the public road.
Even a minute or two of delay lets the stage captain close a chicane, warn the stage, or stop it with an SOS. Every radio point needs to know the SOS stoppage procedure.
Source: ARA Typical Blocker Positioning, V2.0 (January 2025): Stage Start Entry, Stage Finish Exit, and Stage integrity at Start and Finish.
9. Net control
In plain words: You're the hub. Keep a board of where every car was last seen, put emergencies first, and pass decisions to the officials.
Track each car to the furthest station that logged it. A missing car is between that station and the next one.
Acknowledge every report briefly by naming the station. Silence leaves people calling again.
Emergency traffic always goes first. Everyone else stands by and keeps the frequency clear.
On an SOS: stop more cars entering, get officials and medical moving, and keep the air clear. The Clerk of the Course, with the Stewards, decides about stopping or cancelling the stage (RCR 5.14, 5.15.6).
A weak station? Use a relay through a station that hears both. A stuck mic can't hear you, so move to the backup frequency or phone.
An OK car that isn't blocking the road doesn't stop the sweep. Close the stage only when every car is accounted for.
10. Emergencies
In plain words: Break in, wait to be acknowledged, then give the facts: where, which car, what happened, and OK or SOS. Never names, never injury details on the air.
Say "Break break, emergency traffic," then your tactical call, and wait for net control. Every other station holds routine calls.
Give the stage number and a location responders can find (miles into the stage, the route book instruction, or which marshal points it's between), the car number, what happened, and whether OK or SOS is shown. For a civilian vehicle, the plate if you can.
No names and no injury details on the air. Say "medical required immediately." The response runs on a separate frequency, and you stay on the primary.
To anyone who asks, only two statements: "Driver and/or co-driver are/is OK" or "Injuries are being reported and medical help is being requested."
Fire is an emergency even with the crew clear. Help only if it's safe and your role allows.
Don't go into the stage on your own. Your post is how net control tracks cars.
Anyone may use any radio to get help when life is in immediate danger (47 CFR 97.403).
The SOS chain
11. Crew signals and the rules they follow
In plain words: Crews tell each other, and you, what's going on with a few simple signs. Knowing them helps you report accurately.
Emergencies are injuries needing immediate medical attention, uncontrolled fire, a breach of stage security, or a completely impassable road. The crew shows SOS and following crews must stop (RCR 5.15.2).
Stopped but no medical help needed: OK sign (5.15.4). If a crew can't show the sign, a thumb up means OK and crossed arms above the head means SOS (5.15.8). If the sign and the console disagree, follow the more severe (5.15.10).
At an SOS the first car gives aid. The second car takes the details to the next radio point, a marshal point or timing control, and stays until released. Others stay at the scene. An SOS can't be called off once crews have stopped (5.15.9).
No triangle and no OK or SOS shown: following crews stop until they know the occupants are safe (5.15.3). One triangle means slow down, and could mean a full blockage (5.15.1).
A breach of stage security or a full blockage is reported by crews at the next radio point or control (5.13.2, 5.13.3).
Crews who can continue but can't hold a reasonable speed use their four-way flashers (5.16).
12. RallySafe and radio point signs
In plain words: RallySafe tracks the cars and flags trouble, but your log is the backup. The round blue sign is where crews come to find you.
At National events, the RallySafe unit must stay powered and active, and its time is the official time (ARA Bulletin 2026-3).
Stopped cars show as a hazard. When a crew presses OK, the unit asks whether the road is blocked. SOS asks fire or medical. A high-G impact triggers an automatic SOS the crew can cancel.
A red flag on RallySafe tells crews the stage is stopped and to slow to transit speed. The unit's OK doesn't replace the OK sign.
The round yellow Radio Warning Point sign warns that a radio point is ahead. The round blue Radio Point sign marks the radio itself. Medical points add a cross.
Crews look for the blue sign when they need to report. Set up right at it, where crews can stop safely beside you.
Your radio setup
In plain words: 2 m radio in the woods is hard. A handheld won't reach the repeater; bring a proper mobile rig, program it before you come, and be ready to move a few feet to get through.
Minimum equipment
A mobile or vehicle-mounted radio of 25 watts or more, preferably wired directly to the vehicle battery so you don't blow the power outlet fuses.
An antenna with 3 dB gain or better.
Handhelds are fine for listening, but 90% of the time they won't have the power to reach the repeaters.
The course is checked with 25 W and a 3 dB antenna. Anything less may not work, and some locations need 40 W or more. Confirm your equipment with Net Control.
Helpful extras for hard-to-reach posts
A mast or pole of 20 ft or more.
An omnidirectional antenna with more than 3 dB gain, or a directional antenna such as a yagi.
If you can bring these, tell the radio organizer; some posts can't reach the repeater without them.
An external speaker outside the vehicle helps the crew around you hear the net.
Getting a signal
A mobile or mag-mount antenna needs a good ground plane. A sunroof or an aluminum roof or hood limits how well you transmit.
2 m signals change over a few feet. If you aren't getting through, move the vehicle or antenna, even 10 ft, until you're heard clearly.
Rally cars' unshielded ignitions can interfere. Park away from the traveled route as much as practical.
Cross-banding is discouraged. If you must, it adds keying delay, so don't speak too soon, and set your squelch properly or you'll have a hot mic keying the repeater.
Where to set up
Off the rally course, but close enough to the control to talk easily with the volunteers, especially the Control Captain.
Start: close to the start line. If the stage has to be stopped, this is where that information is needed. An FRS radio can reach the ATC.
Finish: at the FTC (the red STOP sign), in a safe spot. Timing information can come from the flying finish by FRS radio.
Not at the ATC or the flying finish line, unless that is the best reception point.
Mid-stage (course marshal) posts: park safely, blocking the side road's access to the stage road. Safety first.
Before you arrive
Program every repeater and simplex frequency the event will use, and save them to memory.
Bring a copy of your radio's manual.
Set your time-out timer to 2 minutes.
Some events lend radios to licensed operators who don't have the minimum equipment. Ask the radio team at volunteer registration.
Source: LSPR 2026 ham radio advance information; LSPR 2026 Radio Communications Guide.
How the frequencies fit together
In plain words: One directed net on a repeater, a simplex backup, 800 MHz for emergency response, and a phone or text if all else fails. Your event publishes its own frequencies and numbers.
Link
What it is for
Primary repeater
The directed net for each stage or day, with its offset and tone (PL). All calls go to Net Control.
Simplex backup
Direct radio to radio, transmit and receive on the same frequency, no offset or tone. Very limited range: use your radio's highest power.
800 MHz
Key race control members carry 800 MHz radios as a backup and for EMS. Emergency response is handled there; you stay on the primary to talk to Net Control.
Phone or text
If the primary is unusable, switch to the backup frequency or call Net Control. Texts often get through where calls don't.
Worth knowing
Repeaters and links (such as an AllStarLink node) each add delay. Key, wait a second or two, speak, wait a second or two, release.
Net Control is active about an hour before each day's pick-up times.
Net Control keeps an FCC log of every operator's call sign and tactical ID each day, and identifies for the net periodically.
Source: LSPR 2026 Radio Communications Guide.
Who's on the net
In plain words: The net is there for safety. Radio operators are spread across the event, and RallySafe tracks the cars, but your reports keep Net Control and the stage crew in step.
Radio operators are assigned to
The start and finish of every stage.
Published spectator areas.
The lead and sweep cars, and the medical teams.
A few important intersections on some stages.
The service area and some rally officials.
And remember
RallySafe monitors every competitor, including lead and sweep, and keeps race control informed.
Net Control can dispatch resources in an emergency, possibly on a different frequency.
Competition on any stage starts only when Net Control gives permission.
You keep the stage, start and finish captains informed of every direction or change from Net Control.
Stay close to your radio and listen. If you'll be away more than a minute or so, tell Net Control, and tell them when you're back.
Source: LSPR 2026 Radio Communications Guide.
The incident report
In plain words: Break in with emergency traffic, give Net Control the basics when asked (stage, location, car, what happened, OK or SOS), then gather the rest of this as soon as you can. It applies to rally and civilian incidents alike.
Section
What to gather
Location (any one)
Miles from the intersection of ___ and ___; or stage # and route book instruction #; or between instructions # and # (page #); or miles into the stage
Who is involved
SOS displayed? Yes / No. Car # if a competitor (no names on the air). Civilian vehicle: license plate if possible.
When
Approximate time of the incident
Other information
Injuries? Medical assistance needed? Anything else (specify). Service crew needed? With a trailer?
Control counts
Finish control: how many cars have completed the stage. Start control: how many cars have entered it.
After you report
If you've asked for medical help, you may be told to wait for the medical team.
Further access to the road is limited to emergency response vehicles unless Net Control says otherwise.
A start control radio operator may be asked to travel down the stage with Emergency Services.
Reporting injuries
Notification is your first job. Under no circumstances give out the condition of anyone injured, or the progress of emergency crews, on the air or to anyone else.
Whoever asks, only two answers: “Driver and/or co-driver are/is OK,” or “Injuries are being reported and medical help is being requested.”
Treat injured people to the limit of your training with the equipment you have. Don't guess.
Don't pull anyone from a vehicle unless there's imminent danger of fire or further life-threatening injury, and don't move a vehicle with an injured person inside.
If a crew is upside down and hanging in their belts, don't release the belts without a way to catch them.
Source: LSPR 2026 Radio Communications Guide, Emergency Procedures.
Media on the stage
In plain words: Media wear blue (unrestricted) or red (restricted) vests. Blue vests go in from the start before 00; nobody, media included, is on the stage road between 00 and the green light. If you see one there, it's a safety report.
Vest
Who it is
Where they may work
Blue (unrestricted)
Experienced motorsport media with extensive rally experience
Any location that meets ARA safety policy. They get onto the stage from the stage start, handing a Stage Access form to the start or stage captain, or on foot from a marshal point once they show the marshal their movement plan. Either way, to a shooting spot set before the event.
Red (restricted)
Media with limited rally or motorsport experience
Only official spectator locations, or spots the event has approved in advance. Not unmarked areas unless a marshal directs them. A red vest may go with a blue vest only if they're in the same vehicle and shoot from the same spot.
For every vest
In place before the 00 car passes. Off the stage road from 00 until the green-light sweep.
Never in a red-taped area. Yellow tape isn't a guarantee of safety either.
Keep off the outside of corners and jump landings, work from behind something solid, and keep an escape route.
ARA, event officials and marshals have the final say on where media stand. Media move without discussion when asked. Course opening cars can remove media from a stage.
Anyone breaking the safety rules is removed at once. If a media member's actions cancel or delay a stage, they and their outlet face a two-year ban from ARA events.
On the radio
At the start: a blue vest's Stage Access form goes to the start or stage captain.
Media on the stage road after 00, or in a red-taped area, who won't move when asked: tell Net Control right away, with your location.
A red vest asking to go down the stage from your post: no. Send them to a spectator area.
Signing on, routine reports, emergency calls, privacy, location, equipment
2026 ARA RCR 5.13–5.17
Stage security, stopped stages, SOS and OK, triangles, slow cars, overtaking
ARA Bulletin 2026-3
RallySafe at National events
47 CFR 97.119, 97.403
Identifying with your call sign; emergency communication
RallySafe competitor guides
What crews see and press
Common US rally net practice
Logging, counts, holds and the sweep, where your event's radio plan doesn't say otherwise
Your event's radio plan and net control's instructions take priority over this guide.
Before you start
Have you read the study guide?
It covers everything the drills and exams test, in plain words. It takes about 20 minutes and isn't required.
How the rally radio net works, and quick reference
The net
It's a directed net. Every call goes to net control. To talk to another station, ask net control first.
Tactical calls name your post: Start 3, Finish 3, and M plus the intersection number for mid-stage posts (M23).
First call of the day: "KE8ABC signing on as Start 3." Wait for net control to acknowledge.
Every call after that: tactical call, your traffic, wait for the acknowledgment, then end with your FCC call sign. You must ID at the end of a communication and at least every 10 minutes (47 CFR 97.119).
Stay by your radio. Tell net control if you'll be away more than a minute, and when you're back. Pass every instruction from net control to your start, finish or stage captain.
Making a call
Listen first. Key the mic, wait a second or two, speak, wait a second or two, release. Repeaters and links add delay.
Keep it short. Plain language, no 10-codes. Car numbers one digit at a time ("one one seven"), times in 24-hour form ("fourteen zero seven").
Secure your mic so nothing presses it. Set the time-out timer to 2 minutes. If net control has been quiet for a few minutes, check your mic.
Weak signal? Move the car or antenna even 10 feet. If the primary frequency is unusable, go to the backup or text net control.
Routine reports
Arrival on station, and when your location is ready for cars.
Course cars 000, 00 and 0 as they pass you.
Control positions: start or finish time of the first and the last competitor.
The sweep as it passes you.
Log every car, but don't report every car. Net control may ask for your count or the last car number. Your log is the backup when RallySafe loses cars.
Radio point signs
The round yellow Radio Warning Point sign (black ring, black lightning arrow) warns that a radio point is ahead. The round blue Radio Point sign marks the radio itself. Medical points are radio points too and add a cross to the sign.
Crews look for the blue sign when they need to report an SOS, a blocked road or a security breach. Make sure your post is right at it and that crews can stop safely beside you.
A stage, in order
Stations on station and ready → 000 → 00 → 0 → net control opens the stage and tells the start when to send the first car → competitors → last car → sweep → net control closes the stage once every car is accounted for.
No competitor starts until net control says the stage is open. Nobody drives on the closed stage without net control's permission.
Emergencies
"Break break, emergency traffic," your tactical call, then wait for net control. Every other station holds routine calls.
When asked, give: stage number, location (miles into the stage, route book instruction, or between marshal points), car number, what happened, and whether OK or SOS is shown. For a civilian vehicle, the plate if you can.
No names and no injury details on the air. Say "medical required immediately." The response runs on a separate frequency; you stay on the primary.
To anyone who asks, only two statements: "Driver and/or co-driver are/is OK" or "Injuries are being reported and medical help is being requested."
Don't pull anyone from a car unless there's fire or imminent danger. Don't move a car with someone inside. Don't release an inverted crew's belts without a way to catch them.
Rules crews follow (2026 RCR)
An emergency is an injury needing immediate medical attention, uncontrolled fire, a breach of stage security, or a completely impassable road blockage. Crews show SOS and following crews must stop (5.15.2).
Stopped but no medical help needed: show OK, visible in time for following cars (5.15.4). Thumb up = OK, crossed arms above the head = SOS (5.15.8). If the sign and the console disagree, follow the more severe (5.15.10).
At an SOS, the first car renders aid. The second car takes details to the next radio point (a marshal point or timing control) and stays until released. Others stay at the scene. An SOS can't be rescinded (5.15.9).
No triangle and no OK/SOS: following crews stop until they know the occupants are safe (5.15.3). One triangle could mean a full blockage (5.15.1).
Breach of stage security or a full blockage: crews report it at the next radio point or control (5.13.2, 5.13.3).
A stopped stage may be classified using the slowest time set before the stop (5.14). The Clerk of the Course, with the Stewards, may cancel a stage after an SOS (5.15.6).
RallySafe: stopped cars show a hazard; OK asks if the road is blocked; SOS asks fire or medical; a red flag tells crews to slow to transit speed. The unit's OK doesn't replace the OK sign.