Calgary Stampede to review chuckwagon safety

Six people will head a safety review into a chuckwagon accident this summer that injured a driver and killed three horses at the Calgary Stampede.

The Calgary Stampede is famous for the annual Rangeland Derby chuckwagon championship but organizers say the top priority is to make sure everyone involved in it stays safe.

"Certainly they'll be looking at every factor related to the incident that they feel contributed to the incident and evaluate how that can be accounted for from a safety perspective," stampede spokeswoman Lindsey Gallowaysaid Monday.

"If there's an opportunity to make changes to our rules, to our approach to the sport; anything and everything is on the table in terms of making the sport as safe as it can be."

Driver Tyler Helmig was thrown from his rig in July when it ran into the downed lead team of horses that had crashed in the first turn. Helmig needed surgery on a hip and elbow.

The committee, which includes a veterinarian and a retired world champion chuckwagon driver, will begin its work next month. The stampede says its findings will be made public by the end of the year.