[DeTomaso] NPC: Racing Safety

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/18/11 8 45 58, asajay at asajay.com writes:


> Another good illustration was the sedan that rolled a few times and 
> when it stopped, you could see through the windows, the drivers feet 
> and legs sticking up.  He had been totally turned over inside the car 
> during the roll.  Being thrown around on the inside without a seat 
> belt can't be too good either.
> 

FWIW, I have a friend (he's the co-founder of the open-track/racing 
sanctioning group NASA; we went to high school together) who was running a borrowed 
SCCA VW Scirocco at Sears Point many years ago.   He managed to get turn 10 
all wrong, wound up brushing the wall and the car then barrel-rolled down 
the straight, rolling over several times.

The car was equipped with seatbelts with a cam-lock latch; the type where 
each belt is inserted individually into a locking mechanism.   They are more 
convenient than the traditional aviation latch, which takes a bit of 
dexterity to operate.  The thing is, they are released fairly easily as well.   In 
his case, he was about halfway through his first roll when his flailing hand 
just brushed against the latch, and it OPENED, releasing him to bounce 
around inside the car like a pachinco ball as it cartwheeled down the track.

He had in-car video of the episode and it was truly eye-opening.   Due to 
the full cage in the car, it retaining its basic shape, and he was 
surprisingly not seriously hurt, but it could have been a disaster.

That's why I opt for old-school latches which are a bit more difficult to 
use, but much more positive in terms of requiring deliberate action to open.

Cam-style latches that require you to grasp the round center and rotate the 
whole thing are probably the very best system.   If your cam latch has a 
little lever that you can operate with your pinky, think hard about replacing 
it....

Mike