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The lap belt slides into the corner of the bucket seat openings and elongates to take some forces exerted on the body. The pelvis moves forward and the shoulder belt angles reduce, which can result in submarining. Sure, you are fixed in your seat, but your limbs and head are not, it’s just the central mass. Whenever you hit something hard there is a very abrupt deceleration, and it’s this element of the crash that is dangerous. Check out this video of an altogether unspectacular crash: In crashes at speeds even as low as 30mph you can be generating forces large enough that the mass of your head and helmet literally try and pull your neck apart. The likelihood of his car exploding into flames is relatively low it is of course possible but there’s usually a rather more important piece of gear he’s missing: a head restraint. The gear is usually in a colour that co-ordinates with his chosen track day steed, and to be honest it’s all in vain. He has the suit, the gloves, and the ever-so-thinly-soled shoes so he can heel and toe to perfection, if only he knew how. He’s dressed head to toe in fire retardant gear. I put that in quotation marks because at track days all around the world you’ll find this one type of guy. It’s true, you can get carried away with ‘safety equipment’. If not, at least the speed is reduced before the crash.“I’m not a racing driver, I don’t need that.”
#HEAD AND NECK RESTRAINT SYSTEMS DRIVER#
This allows the skidding tires to scrub off some of the speed, hopefully allowing the driver to regain control. The roof flaps keep the cars on the ground as they spin. After the car has spun around once, it has usually slowed to the point that it no longer produces lift. The second flap, which is oriented at 180 degrees, makes sure that the car continues to kill the lift as it rotates. This high-pressure air blows through a tube that connects to the pocket holding the second flap, causing the second flap to deploy. An area of high pressure forms in front of the flap. Once this flap opens, it disrupts the airflow over the roof, killing all of the lift. The first flap to open is the one oriented at a 140-degree angle from the centerline of the car. When the car reaches an angle at which it generates significant lift, the low pressure above the flaps sucks them open. Through wind-tunnel testing, NASCAR determined that the area of lowest pressure is at the back of the roof, near the rear window. To prevent this, NASCAR officials developed a set of flaps that are recessed into pockets on the roof of the car. If the speed of the car is high enough, it will generate enough lift to pick up the car. When the car has spun around 140 degrees, its shape is very similar to that of a wing. At this angle, the car takes on a shape that interacts with the wind very much like a wing. Before this, when the cars spun out at high speeds (more than 195 mph / 324 kph), they would often fly into the air once they had rotated about 140 degrees. In 1994, NASCAR introduced roof flaps - a safety device designed to keep cars from going airborne and tumbling over the track. The net also has a quick release so that the driver can get it out of the way without much effort. This can be especially dangerous if the car rolls over and starts tumbling. The G-forces are so high during a crash - between 50 and 100 times the force of gravity - that it is impossible for the driver to control the position of his arms. This webbing helps keep the driver's arms from flailing out of the car during a crash. The window openings on the cars are covered by a mesh made from nylon webbing.
#HEAD AND NECK RESTRAINT SYSTEMS DRIVERS#
In October 2001, NASCAR officials mandated the use of head-and-neck-restraint systems for all drivers racing in the Winston Cup Series, Nascar Busch Series or Nascar Craftsman Truck Series. Hoping to prevent those types of injuries, NASCAR will be requiring the use of an approved head-and-neck restraint. Recently, several deaths have occurred as a result of severe head and neck trauma.