14 replies to this topic

[mnmracer]

Thought this was a very interesting article by racer and doctor, James Norman.

As a current racer in the Grand-Am Rolex series as well as the Continental-Tire Challenge, I called upon my fellow driver and neurosurgeon Dr Jim Lowe to help me put these deaths into perspective, and to review briefly and in lay-terms the medical causes of race car driver deaths.

Moreover, we wanted to show the progress that has been made in racing by the various sanctioning bodies and to reassure our fellow drivers that we are much safer than we have ever been, and that the sanctioning bodies are doing an extremely good job at implementing changes that help protect us from injury, and ultimately, death.

What follows here is a review — from a medical point of view — of why race car drivers die. We aren’t going to say that they died because of a suspension failure, or brake failure, we are going to tell what happened to the racer’s body that caused the death. We won’t leave it there, however, we will help you understand how the rules were changed to protect drivers so that these injuries and deaths become more and more rare.

Link: Why Drivers Still Die In Racing Crashes

Edited by mnmracer, 26 June 2013 - 08:18.

[zepunishment]

Thought this was a very interesting article by racer and doctor, James Norman.


Link: Why Drivers Still Die In Racing Crashes

Decent article - still goes to show that whatever safety measures you have in place, sudden deceleration can be fatal regardless.

[Bloggsworth]

My bank manager walked out of his bank, slipped and banged his head, got up, went home and was dead within 48 hours. My solicitor was walking to his office and dropped dead in the street, he was 32. People die, it is never a question of if, only when. What is remarkable is how few racing drivers die. Random factors play a huge part, had Senna lost control 1/1000 of a second earlier or later he may still have been with us today. The industry can and will do all it can to maintain driver safety, but some things are down to pure chance, the bolt from the blue that can happen to any of us at any time.

[king_crud]

My bank manager walked out of his bank, slipped and banged his head, got up, went home and was dead within 48 hours. My solicitor was walking to his office and dropped dead in the street, he was 32.

Remind me not to do business with you....

[HaydenFan]

It is an auto accident after all. I'd say compared to the accidents on the road involving automobiles, those that occur on a race track are pretty violent in comparison. You see cars flipping over at 150mph+, rally cars rolling down ravines, hitting a f**king wall! Yet in over 9 out of 10 of those incidents, drivers come out fine, with a small amount with a minor injuries, and even smaller amount with major injuries, and even minute amount with fatal injuries. For what auto racing is, while you see the occasional participant lose their life, I still say this sport is safer than most activities outside of board games and browsing internet forums.

[Muz Bee]

My bank manager walked out of his bank, slipped and banged his head, got up, went home and was dead within 48 hours. My solicitor was walking to his office and dropped dead in the street, he was 32. People die, it is never a question of if, only when. What is remarkable is how few racing drivers die. Random factors play a huge part, had Senna lost control 1/1000 of a second earlier or later he may still have been with us today. The industry can and will do all it can to maintain driver safety, but some things are down to pure chance, the bolt from the blue that can happen to any of us at any time.

Good post! We have crossed a threshold IMO where the sport is as safe as it really needs to be to the point where drivers underestimate the hidden dangers and sometimes behave recklessly. The more cotton wool you put around the drivers the more convinced they are that crashing at 150MPH is perfectly safe. Drivers manners have got out of hand at times, wouldn't have happened in the 60s when death was never far away.

[Afterburner]

Remind me not to do business with you....

[PayasYouRace]

It's a fascinating read. Very often we focus on the cause of the accident (car failure, driver error, etc.) and sometimes the the nature of the impact or whatever, so it's nice to read the medical perspective. It's actually amazing how safe the sport is nowadays, but there's always room for improvement.

[zepunishment]

An interesting statistic would be the average number of fatalities incurred per hour of circuit racing versus that of road driving.

[molpid]

An interesting statistic would be the average number of fatalities incurred per hour of circuit racing versus that of road driving.

apples & orranges

[rmpugh]

Thought this was a very interesting article by racer and doctor, James Norman.


Link: Why Drivers Still Die In Racing Crashes

You see it at karting tracks everywhere.

[mandingo]

it is called fate , destiny

[William Hunt]

My bank manager walked out of his bank, slipped and banged his head, got up, went home and was dead within 48 hours. My solicitor was walking to his office and dropped dead in the street, he was 32.

After you poisoned them

[ApexMouse]

it is called fate , destiny

TIS BUT THE WILL OF IMHOTEP

Edited by ApexMouse, 27 June 2013 - 15:40.

[dweller23]

This is a very unfortunate month for motorsport. Today we've lost Andrea Mamé at Paul Ricard during Lamborghini Super Trofeo.