Safety Changes In The Race Car

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Safety changes are not only changes within the racecar or to what the drivers wear, there have also been changes to the walls that surround the tracks. Many officials realized that there was an increase in high impact crashes into walls (Aumann). In the article, “SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS, CHANGES DEFINE RACING ERAS”, Aumann states, “Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George began looking for a solution”. There were many attempts to create a safer wall. The first attempt, “was designed by retired General Motors engineer John Pierce and placed on an interior wall near the entrance to pit road in 1998” (Aumann). This was put into use during the International Race of Champions when a driver struck the wall. the driver was not seriously injured, …show more content…

As stated in, “Racing Safety: Drivers at Risk--NASCAR Idling While Drivers Die”, “When Adam Petty’s race car slammed at 150 mph into a concrete wall in May, his body was secured tightly by a safety harness and seatbelt. What instantly doomed the 19-year-old grandson of legendary driver Richard Petty was that his head was inadequately restrained”. Other racing circuits require their drivers to wear a HANS device which connects to both the driver's helmet and seat belts to stabilize the driver's head in the event of a crash, but up until 2001 NASCAR did not require their drivers to wear this device or one like it (Hinton). Dale Earnhardt Sr. also was killed because of a crash where he had head injuries at the base of his skull (Harris). Even though no one is sure that a HANS device could have saved Earnhardt they know that it could not have hurt him (Harris). In the early 2000’s drivers in NASCAR series came up with excuses of why they did not want to wear neck devices like the HANS. Some of these excuses include, “The bulky brace might make it harder for the drivers to get out of the car in the event of a fire” and “Wearing the device is more of a burden to stock car drivers than it is to open-wheel drivers. NASCAR drivers sit more upright and closer to the

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