One for the Guys Who Think Safety Gear is Too Many $$

[Rob]

The driver walked away with a few bumps and bruises.

http://www.youtube.com/v/yS1NU6xjTSY

[DLRA]

Good post Rob.
This will be old news for some, but worth repeating here for those newer competitors.
There is a couple of things happening here.
The first is "the parachute pull", and this is one of the very reasons why drivers the DLRA have an observed 175 license pass with a parachute pull.
Watch the clip again, with the sound up. At the one mile, he lifts off the accelerator and then pulls the 'chute. Then he gets out of line. When the chute deploys it's pulling the car and if there is a cross wind or the chute isn't packed just right it will definitely unsettle the car.
We instruct all drivers who are attempting their 175MPH license to pull the chute first and then slowly off the gas. This way the car decelerates in a straight line.

The second thing is this accident occurred at the Texas mile (standing start, track length 1 mile total) with safety crews a very short distance away and a hospital probably not that far away either. Luckily there was no fire.
Imagine if the same thing happened at Lake Gairdner or even Bonneville track length 5 or maybe 9 miles, nearest safety crew maybe 3 miles away. Nearest hospital? Well there's a doctor 4 hours drive at Port Augusta...
Now imagine if there was a fire, even with the guys in the fire truck it's still easily a minute before they arrive at the very best.
The best of the driving suits we specify have a burn protection rating of 30 seconds, I'll leave it up to you to do the math.
This is also why we get drivers to practice and demonstrate as part of scruitneering as to how they will get themselves out of their vehicle after an accident, if they can.
Why wouldn't you have the very best safety equipment you can afford?

[Stayt`ie]

back in the earlie 70`s i had just started dragracing,, i witnessed a fatility at the Palmyra drag strip in the brakeing area, the car ended up about 100 feet from where i was waiting on my bike ,, this video brought back vivid memories of that crash,,, the "Big" lesson i learnt that day was" "Never take safety for granted" no matter what the cost or circimstance "

[Rob]

Here's an in car view of Danny Thompson's 260+mph crash this year in his Mustang, in his words "You can see the Hans device did it's job".

I was amazed at how far his head (and body)travelled even with it & tight belts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTzbBRyOO0o

[penny]

did you notice that his visor "blew " open .

[Rob]

Here's the article for Danny Thompson's crash with why he believes it happened.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ ... ly-salted/

[ROSS BROWN]

Hate to be swimming against the tide on this one
Don,t get me wrong...... SAFTEY..... is a key concern , but I'm failing to see the head and neck resrtraint work effectivly in the Danny Thompson crash.
It appears to me that his belts alone are what saved him from any major injury ( even though they stretched ) His head has completely rolled forward to his chest setting up an incident for whiplash . (design failure ) I feel that a standard padded neck collar would have been more effective in that incident . My biggest issue with with these new technoledgy head and neck devices in LSR is "HOOK UP " when trying to exit a confined roll cage.
These products get huge publicity & praise but I feel they do not have the correct design features for LSR in certain classes.





MY 2 CENTS

[ROSS BROWN]

No Backlash yet ! Spose I'll just rant on........
PERSPECTIVE
Land speed racing is the only sport where one must prove timed exit capabillities ,
adding 2 wires and a plastic hook to the senario of a crumpled jagged racing vehical has to be a hinderence to the final outcome.
ONE must remember in the days of blissfull youth ,that when one was escaping out ones girlfriends window, that one did not tie that said girlfriends bra around one selves neck when jumping into the trees

AHHHHHH...........

[DLRA]

So what were you doing wearing your girlfriends bra?

[ROSS BROWN]

Ahh
Young and silly I guess........
Seemed to have that .. Did you get into her pants question all mixed up
Got it all worked out by the time I turned 5

[Rob]

[quote="ROSS BROWN"],
adding 2 wires and a plastic hook to the senario of a crumpled jagged racing vehical has to be a hinderence to the final outcome.
quote]

G'day Ross,

Far less so than a broken neck I should think.

My thoughts overall after the video were along the lines of "how would he have been without the gear?"

There was some discussion yesterday online about the accident and apparently the upper seat belt mounts were not ideally located and Danny says in his article he'd go for different belt material next time. I was also surprised at just how far he did move forward. I am still looking for video of the crash from the sidelines to get the whole accident into a better perspective.

Cheers,
Rob

[ROSS BROWN]

Yes I've been reading those disscussions as well
When something looks like a strawberry ,smells like a strawberry, feels like a strawberry and tastes like a strawberry
we tend to belive it is a strawberry.
These new head and neck restraints look ,smell and feel like a lemon but apparently taste like a strawberry
It is clear to me that the device in the picture has slipped around the drivers shoulders , thus becoming somewhat inafective.
These units are at the begining of there evolution. For these units to be of any proper effect they will need to be at " LEAST "
sown into the drivers suit and until then they are just a force fed lemon.
The common garden variety standard " padded neck collar " is a far superior option ,as it also pays attention to whiplash & depries coming at the drivers neck from front on.
............ SIMPLE IS BEST.......

[momec]

Ross, I'm on neither side at the present and think this is some of the most valuable in car footage we have seen in our sport.
My sparse understanding is the straps on the sides of the device need to be adjusted for min travel to be effective. Watching all the S/Car prima donnas enter and exit l think they adjust them the first time they use them so they are comfy and never think about them again
If Dannys were on the loose side to begin and they streach as much as the bloody belts. (Sit in your race car tighten the belts f tight and see if your head can hit the wheel) then it might not be all the devices fault. Neck collars are foam and that much force wil squash them to IMHO
Chris

[johnneilson]

Interesting discussion, I attended a seminar last month about safety equipment.
This video of Danny Thompsons crash was played in 1/4 speed and several times to illustrate the Hans device effectivness.
It also helped define some of the bodies motion that could possibly have been aided by using a 9 point system.

Other video was provided with and without the Hans on controlled sleds. Dannys movement was typical in the Hans testing, in some of the non-Hans testing, his chin would have been closer to the top of the steering wheel.

The bottom line is this, he is alive and well today.

One other note about the horse collars, in Karting, years ago, they were manditory in Europe. After some nasty crashes and people getting hurt the requirment was removed. It seems that the added thickness of the collar acted as a fulcrum on the helmet and accentuated the neck/skull injuries.

I have no affiliation with any eq company but, when My Son refused to were a Hans, he had no car to run. In fact, he had to find a ride home.

Carry on, John

[ROSS BROWN]

John
Thanks for your input (it is appriecated as I know you are in strong standing )
Every problem has its own set of unique circumstances as does every crash........
The first time myself and most other Australians heard of the head and neck restaint systems was on the six 0clock news when Dale Ernhart crashed
and with that report was the information that if Dale was wearing the new head and neck restraint system he would have survived the accident,............what was missing from that information was the fact that the seat belts failed..
Oppertunity knocked :for the makers of the restraint systesms .................................the world believed....................
and yes I do believe the restraint does have its place ......... but not in every application.
Fully reclined Streamliners and some other LSR classes are unique in the fact that they are roof exit with low set roll cages :
PICTURE ONE
The rear of my helmet is resting on the rear pad with the front of the helmet virtually resting on my chest,head movement is allmost zero.


PICTURE TWO
The front hoop is the problem :
Have read on other threads that the fix is to weld a guide plate to the cage to stop the restraint system from hooking up.....
of little use in this case:
Being able to exit the streamliner efficiently is of high importance to me... as I feel my neck is pretty well allready taken care of.



Once again "thank you" for your input John
If it comes to the crunch I will eat "LIVER" and put my "STINKIN " restaint system on.
Cheers
Ross