Would you say that in motorsports that the safety features are advance enough to make almost any crash non-fatal?

I just saw this is qualifying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ... aU73w&feature=related

McDowell's crash got me wondering: in a crash like that, did the safety features do their job and saved his life? Or was he just really lucky (reminds me of Brack's indy crash).

If so, are stock cars now generally safer than formula 1? Or is the oval stock cars still pretty dangerious? (PS I know absolutely nothing about the racecar safety measures)

Quote from lizardfolk :

Would you say that in motorsports that the safety features are advance enough to make almost any crash non-fatal?

I just saw this is qualifying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ... aU73w&feature=related

McDowell's crash got me wondering: in a crash like that, did the safety features do their job and saved his life? Or was he just really lucky (reminds me of Brack's indy crash).

If so, are stock cars now generally safer than formula 1? Or is the oval stock cars still pretty dangerious? (PS I know absolutely nothing about the racecar safety measures)

I have to say, after I saw that crash - I wasn't surprised at all that he was still alive. However, I was surprised that he literally 'walked away'.

Amazing that he got out of that crash, a few years ago I don't think he would of been so lucky because well all remember what happened to Dale. I think the hans device would have done its job in that crash.

Stock Cars racing on ovals are very safe these days in comparison to the old cars. But I don't think you can say they are safer than an F1 car. The F1 cars safety features are so much more advanced simply because the driver is so exposed and they don't usually have a nice smooth wall to hit with a constant curve. Perfect example is this crash from the pole on pole for todays race...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x43jf3y1cFI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tJY_f7Djmw

...and he got out of that with a few bruises.

Spectacular crash, but not too much hard. The problem when crashing is when you suddenly stop, the car does not absorb all the energy and it arrives to your body. In the video you posted, there was no a sudden stop, just a lot of rolling, that is less dangerous.

Quote from lizardfolk :

Would you say that in motorsports that the safety features are advance enough to make almost any crash non-fatal?

Certainly not, that crash wasn't really that bad, the only real nasty bit was the initial frontal impact, a lot of the energy was still dissipated in the rolls afterwards. Modern safety measures may have got to the extent that a crash like this is generally survivable but there's still no safety measure that currently offers a glimmer of hope for a high speed T-bone.

Quote :

If so, are stock cars now generally safer than formula 1? Or is the oval stock cars still pretty dangerious? (PS I know absolutely nothing about the racecar safety measures)

No F1 cars are still much better at dissipating energy than a stock car, with much longer crumple zones and less risk of fire.

Quote from Berty BERT BERT :

To see a driver walk from a wreck like that, still makes me scratch my head how Dale Earnhardt Snr. died. Glad to see drivers walk from wrecks like that all the same.

He didn't have a HANS device on, which would have saved his life. He was also known to have his belts loose which wouldn't have helped, he didn't hit a safer barrier and the actual angle of impact was much worse, the fact he didn't go through such a dramatic series of barrel rolls is a bad thing as clearly more energy was absorbed in the original impact.

Quote from ajp71 :

Certainly not, that crash wasn't really that bad, the only real nasty bit was the initial frontal impact, a lot of the energy was still dissipated in the rolls afterwards. Modern safety measures may have got to the extent that a crash like this is generally survivable but there's still no safety measure that currently offers a glimmer of hope for a high speed T-bone.



No F1 cars are still much better at dissipating energy than a stock car, with much longer crumple zones and less risk of fire.



He didn't have a HANS device on, which would have saved his life. He was also known to have his belts loose which wouldn't have helped, he didn't hit a safer barrier and the actual angle of impact was much worse, the fact he didn't go through such a dramatic series of barrel rolls is a bad thing as clearly more energy was absorbed in the original impact.

So Tony Stewart walked away from this due to the fact he hit the wall at the same angle but had a HANS device on?

Go figure.

Quote from DieKolkrabe :

So Tony Stewart walked away from this due to the fact he hit the wall at the same angle but had a HANS device on?

Go figure.

I don't really see your point, the HANS device probably didn't do much in that crash, the angle and speed towards the wall wasn't as great as that in Earnhardts accident and the barrier worked perfectly meaning the car was just shot back onto the track. There's a degree of luck to all this as well, you wouldn't expect any of these crashes to be fatal, Earnhardts wasn't that bad, he'd been through harder and more dramatic impacts but that was the time it got him, had the other safety devices been in place there's a good chance he'd have walked away. Had the recent safety improvements not been there the drivers would have probably survived if not walked away from the recent crashes but the harder you make frequent everyday crashes that have the potential to turn nasty the more likely they are to get you. There are lots of factors in every crash that can effect the outcome that are often overlooked and it's often hard to tell the difference. I've seen perfectly fit healthy drivers in ambulances and in pain and struggling to work for weeks with neck injuries from accidents that leave cars in a state where they could have gone on to finish a race if it weren't for the driver. Equally I've seen enormous accidents that leave a driver stepping out of a few chassis tubes completely unscathed. There's always a potential for things to turn nasty, I've seen a relatively everyday tangle leave tire marks on a helmet.

We see lots of lucky escapes but you've got to remember there is an element of luck involved in it, you can plan a car that's theoretically able to leave a driver completely unharmed from an enormous impact but there'll always be a risk dieing from being really unlucky and falling whilst climbing into your car

This guy walked away with a few minor burns, god knows how he wasn't seriously injured. Just saw it on TV and he said when he felt the flames he shut his visor and dropped out of the seat, but couldn't get out of the drivers door. The marshalls did a great job getting there quickly because if he had been knocked out or got stuck he could of been burned to death. The driver said he was just thankful to be alive.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ... IqY4g&feature=related

Ever since Kenny Bräck crashed and survived in this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ORmCDb_sM I've had the utmost respect for racing car safety. Things can always be improved, and one still hear about fatal crashes like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkOUKu3RCEM but the reports of fatalities in motorsport comes further and further apart.

I believe there needs to be a rather in-depth look at the potential short-comings of a bottom side impact.

F1 cars (and most open wheel vehicles) are more susceptible towards becoming airborne than their fendered brotheren. The bottom of these cars are largely devoid of any "crush" structures, and the driver sits right on the ground.

Replay the in-car of the Kubica crash. The nose of the car returned downward just before the head-on wall impact, resulting in almost "the ideal" crash. IF the nose of the car had still been in the air, the car would have impacted the bottom of the BMW, and almost all the force would have bypassed the crush zones. It would have easily resulted in massive forces acting on the back and spine of Kubica.

Tracks also need to be improved. The standard Catch-Fence common to NASCAR and now most tracks does work well at keeping flying cars out of the stands. Unfortunately, it also can act like a cheese-grater to open wheel cars. Also, they are still susceptible to flying wheels and tires. (see Villenueve's '01 Australia crash that claimed the life of a track worker, or 96(?) Charlotte IRL crash).

Are current racing cars phenomenally safe? Yes, but there is more to do and the efforts and pace of improving the safety of the cars need to never be lowered.