Automobile safety and Nascar
Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 3:47 pm
I myself have been involved in a few car accidents, I know of one that I sometimes ask myself how it was possible for me to not even be injured let alone die in a car that has flipped over ultimately landing upside down with all of us trapped in it, I also realize that alot of people in very similar accidents haven't been as lucky...
It has taken about 100 years for the government to even pass a seat belt law here, which to me I find extremely awkward. They should have made the seat belt a law back in the 50's with cars obviously gaining more and more power...Why? Because it sells. It sells, and the people who sell them isn't the government, so why, why has it taken them so long to take their thumbs out of their ears and look at all of the evidence related to vehicle safety?
When my father was the back up driver for ARCA driver, and long time friend Bobby Jacks, Bobby had been racing at Daytona and exiting turn 2 he had flipped the car seven times in excess of 190 MPH, and walked away from it unfazed like most do...
Nascar cars, while yes the media may blow things up when a race car driver dies, but honestly, it is very rare in stock car racing to see people die, even at speeds of 190 MPH...
Why? Because the cars are built to withstand the force of the impacts a car may suffer in the event of a crash...Roll Cages...This isn't just a big pile of metal thrown together...Roll cages are designed with precision and skill...And it's not just the box surrounding the driver, it's starts from the front clip welded to the frame on back to the rear clip designed to break so the driver doesn't take the brunt of the force, mostly for when the driver loses control and the rear of the car slides sideways(with the rear side facing the wall) and upon the car catching it's grip back to the pavement, rocketing it back up into the wall(It turns out that it would be just as safe if another car were to run into the back of them while they are idle - but that is extremely rare)
So, I'm left with one question, why doesn't the government mandate a roll cage in cars? I know that some of the concern is about room for the family, but I also know that some of these vehicles people buy could fit a cow in it, let alone 3 small kids. And I can buy $500 worth of steel tubing, the same stuff we use for our roll cages, and make the safest cars your family could even dream of, forget about crash test ratings, so money isn't of an issue.
People continue to buy cars that I wouldn't trust go cart racing in...They are truly heaps of scrap...The only thing that's keeping street cars safe, is a frame(that has the ride height of about two feet, rendering it practically useless in collisions of anything taller than 2 1/2) and metal literally 1/4 inch thick, that you could punch a dint in, let alone a car crash.
Am I the only one who finds this a little too uncaring and unmotivated? What are some of your thoughts?
This is the worse crash I have ever witnessed on television, and Geoff Bodine was relatively ok...All he received was minor injuries, and the stretcher was merely precautionary.
It has taken about 100 years for the government to even pass a seat belt law here, which to me I find extremely awkward. They should have made the seat belt a law back in the 50's with cars obviously gaining more and more power...Why? Because it sells. It sells, and the people who sell them isn't the government, so why, why has it taken them so long to take their thumbs out of their ears and look at all of the evidence related to vehicle safety?
When my father was the back up driver for ARCA driver, and long time friend Bobby Jacks, Bobby had been racing at Daytona and exiting turn 2 he had flipped the car seven times in excess of 190 MPH, and walked away from it unfazed like most do...
Nascar cars, while yes the media may blow things up when a race car driver dies, but honestly, it is very rare in stock car racing to see people die, even at speeds of 190 MPH...
Why? Because the cars are built to withstand the force of the impacts a car may suffer in the event of a crash...Roll Cages...This isn't just a big pile of metal thrown together...Roll cages are designed with precision and skill...And it's not just the box surrounding the driver, it's starts from the front clip welded to the frame on back to the rear clip designed to break so the driver doesn't take the brunt of the force, mostly for when the driver loses control and the rear of the car slides sideways(with the rear side facing the wall) and upon the car catching it's grip back to the pavement, rocketing it back up into the wall(It turns out that it would be just as safe if another car were to run into the back of them while they are idle - but that is extremely rare)
So, I'm left with one question, why doesn't the government mandate a roll cage in cars? I know that some of the concern is about room for the family, but I also know that some of these vehicles people buy could fit a cow in it, let alone 3 small kids. And I can buy $500 worth of steel tubing, the same stuff we use for our roll cages, and make the safest cars your family could even dream of, forget about crash test ratings, so money isn't of an issue.
People continue to buy cars that I wouldn't trust go cart racing in...They are truly heaps of scrap...The only thing that's keeping street cars safe, is a frame(that has the ride height of about two feet, rendering it practically useless in collisions of anything taller than 2 1/2) and metal literally 1/4 inch thick, that you could punch a dint in, let alone a car crash.
Am I the only one who finds this a little too uncaring and unmotivated? What are some of your thoughts?
This is the worse crash I have ever witnessed on television, and Geoff Bodine was relatively ok...All he received was minor injuries, and the stretcher was merely precautionary.
