It never gets any better. A quiet moment wrestling with the not unpleasant problem of what to pack into a carry-on in order to cope with the unpredictability of the Manx climate was disturbed with the buzz of the mobile. Five words changed what had been the mental warmth of TT anticipation: Dan Kneen has been killed.

Even after more than 50 years as a regular attendee, reporter and, yes, fan of the TT, announcements of that kind never cease to shock. You never get used to it. And yet we keep coming back, year after year.

The TT has been described, for those who compete in it, as a drug. Addictive. Once hooked you can't get off it. And it's the same for thousands of people who make the trip, almost a pilgrimage, to the Island year after year. And yet we cannot - should not - forget those who pay a very high price for, principally, their - but also our - enjoyment even though the races will go on this week almost as if nothing had happened other than a perfunctory announcement from the organisers.

Road racing is, in competitive sporting terms, as extreme as you can get. The TT has been running for 100 years, the death toll over that period is more than double that, and yet there are those who say it is not the most dangerous, citing the Southern 100 or even Scarborough as more risky. It is also claimed, and the stats appear to bear this out, that it is less life threatening than in the fifties or sixties.

This is probably, very simply, due to the introduction of radio communication and a helicopter enabling injured riders to be hospitalised in minutes rather than hours.  It is very difficult to equate bikes which are 30 per cent faster than fifty years ago providing safer racing, on more or less the same course
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There are, of course, other activities like base jumping in the Alps which claim far more lives. But in a world which is incredibly risk averse, although in many senses more risky than ever,  the lure of extreme sport is growing for both participants and watchers. The TT, undoubtedly helped by TV and online distribution, is now visible round the world and is viewed with amazement by racing fans brought up on ovals or tracks designed by Scalextric.

However, we must recognise that times have changed. And what was once acceptable is now less so. The fifties and sixties when, some would say, the TT was in its hey day were within living memory of World War 2 when, however glamourised by movies, young men faced death every day.

Peter Howdle, a great motorcycling journalist and one-time editor of MCN, was flying in Lancaster  bombers as a teenager. He survived  but, as a 'tail-end Charlie' the stats said he  shouldn't have done. That great film The Dambusters while glorying in the success of the mission glossed over the fact that a third of the airmen didn't return.

The TT has many critics and their concern is understandable. Course improvements have been made for both riders and spectators but more,  much more, must be done to improve rider safety, maybe to reduce speeds. There is too much fixation on the fastest lap and lap times in general.

It is not enough to say, although true, that the riders - almost all of whom are volunteers  and make not a penny out of it - are grown ups and therefore know exactly what they are getting into. The mantra of the seventies, after the TT lost its world championship status because it was too dangerous was 'the throttle works both ways!' Hmmm.

Allowing people to do what they want is a powerful argument but there is also an argument as to whether events of this nature should be for commercial gain. Realistically, of course, of this wasn't allowed there would be no TT at all - back to the Manx GP of days gone by and still around.

The events of Wednesday should not pass without even more effort, and money, being put in by both organisers and commercial beneficiaries, to undertake a forensic examination as to what can be done. The fiasco of riders being, apparently, sent in the reverse direction of the track and meeting a course car going flat out to the incident, putting Steve Mercer in hospital and lucky to survive, has already resulted in a pretty obvious change to the red flag rule.

But much of the communication is still last century. Surely it is not beyond the wit, or the purse, of the Manx Government to whom the TT is economically very important, to connect the entire circuit by cable which would not only facilitate instant and reliable communication, have warning lights rather than flags and provide the facility for live tv.

The TT is not just the most spectacular race in the world, it is also the most difficult to control. If the job of Clerk of the Course, currently being ably carried out by Gary Thompson, came vacant there would be few volunteers. And it will not get easier but more must be done. It must get safer and technology can help that.