26 replies to this topic

[Louis Mr. F1]

I was reading the Gilles Villeneuve biography the other day and it says that one of accident that Gilles had had left him blinded for some 30 sec, (as he wasn't sure if he was stationed on the track, he frantically waved his arms in case other cars was approaching) and he needed to wear glasses more often since then (eg. reading). Is this a common 'symptom' for someone after a big accident? do you recall any other F1 drivers having the same blindness?

I remember Mika Hakkinen was not able to see anything after his Adelaide accident, but he was still conscious.

i think it's really frightening not being able to see.

[f1steveuk]

Well obviously Helmut Marko's situation is slightly different, having been hit by a stone. Jacques Laffite managed to put visor cleaner in his eyes instead of his drips (Canada 197??? I think).

Berger suffered from the vibrations in the car, partly because he clinched his teeth while driving, and it started to affect his bones around his teeth and up toward the eye socket, I recall he said his vision suffered as well, but not long term.

Jacques Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher have worn glasses during races after having raced without, but the likes of de Adamich always wore them, and they don't seem worse off than before.

[Greatest]

I believe the recently deceased Johnny Servoz-Gavin retired from F1 in 1970 partly due to the worsening vision...

[Vitesse2]

Temporary blindness is a fairly common side-effect of concussion:

After a blow to the head, a person may be stunned or dazed. He may become unconscious for a moment. The concussion usually leaves no permanent damage. If the blow is severe, haemorrhage and swelling can occur. Depending on the area of the brain affected, the victim may suffer severe headache, dizziness, paralysis, convulsion, or even temporary blindness.

http://rohiniprasadk...-brains-dr.html

IIRC Servoz-Gavin's eyesight problems occurred after a skiing accident.

[David M. Kane]

Could be the decelleration (spelling?) of the accident slamming the eyeballs against the face bones?

[Gerr]

There was a thread around here last year that mentioned Don Garlits and Joe Amato retiring from racing due to detached retinas caused by the massive deceleration in Top Fuel cars.

http://www.motorspor..._Amato_main.htm

http://www.nhra.com/...news/?story=227

[Louis Mr. F1]

thanks for the info

from the GV biography, Gilles said he's prepared to get broken bones from an accident, but when he realized he might lose his eyesight, he got frighten by it.

[f1steveuk]

Did I not read that top fuel drag racers were getting similar brain injuries to boxers, caused by the extreme vibrations?

[bill moffat]

I suspect that the visors on early full-face helmets were less resistant to errant stones than the classic goggles worn by drivers in the open-faced era. Marko's accident changed all that and not long later shotguns were being fired at visors to prove their strength.

As mentioned earlier eye injuries/blindness can either be due to direct trauma or related to the g forces imposed on the head. In Marko's case a French stone sadly destroyed his eye in comprehensive, irretrievable and highly unfortunate fashion. Indirect or blunt trauma can often cause temporary blindness without the eye receiving a direct blow ; concussion of the eye might be a good way of describing it as recovery is usually swift and complete.

Niki Lauda suffered a different type of eye problem after his 'Ring crash. His eyelids were so badly damaged that his eyes received little protection or lubrication, this caused major problems early on in his return to the sport.

Over the years there have allegedly been a handful of drivers who have coped with useful sight in just one eye, although they would probably prefer to keep quiet on this issue...

[JSF]

I think this mans work is apropriate for this thread. John Paul Stapp.

http://www.daviddarl...ia/S/Stapp.html

[Louis Mr. F1]

I also remember that after his Jerez 90 accident, Martin Donelly's wife said he'd sleep with one eye closed and one eye open.

[MoMurray]

Originally posted by Louis Mr. F1
I also remember that after his Jerez 90 accident, Martin Donelly's wife said he'd sleep with one eye closed and one eye open.

Yeah but that was probably a habit he developed from being managed by Eddie Jordan ;)

[Paul Taylor]

Originally posted by Louis Mr. F1
I was reading the Gilles Villeneuve biography the other day and it says that one of accident that Gilles had had left him blinded for some 30 sec, (as he wasn't sure if he was stationed on the track, he frantically waved his arms in case other cars was approaching) and he needed to wear glasses more often since then (eg. reading). Is this a common 'symptom' for someone after a big accident? do you recall any other F1 drivers having the same blindness?

That was after his accident at Imola in 1980.

[T54]

Detached retinas are a common occurence after a concussion or a serious head impact. As a victim of this who lost all vision my left eye (it does happen in about 5% of such cases), I have learned about the result of macular degeneration complicated with mild to violent concussions.
This happens to football players, motorcycle and auto racers the older the more dangerous for the vision it is. In most cases, the retina can be re-attached and some vision (albeit greatly deformed) returns. In some cases, it's lights out.

I suspect that the visors on early full-face helmets were less resistant to errant stones than the classic goggles worn by drivers in the open-faced era. Marko's accident changed all that and not long later shotguns were being fired at visors to prove their strength.

I do not believe it to be the case. The old Winters or Barrufaldi goggles had laminated glass in them, and the risks were even higher than with the 1/16" polycarbonate visors found on the early full-face helmets. Now the visors are 1/8" and incredibly strong, except that in case of fire they will melt rather rapidly, exposing the driver's eyes to greater exposure to heat.
Helmut Mrko was wearing a 1/16" shield and the rock pierced right trhough it. Thanksfully, it could not happen today.

[FLB]

Originally posted by Vitesse2
IIRC Servoz-Gavin's eyesight problems occurred after a skiing accident.

It was an incident at the 1970 Rallye infernal, whcih was an off-road rally. He was wearing a full-face helmet, but without a visor. His eye was struck by a branch.

[Penword]

Jacques Laffite managed to put visor cleaner in his eyes instead of his drips (Canada 197??? I think).

That was the 1975 US GP.

[Gary Davies]

Originally posted by T54
Detached retinas are a common occurence after a concussion or a serious head impact. As a victim of this who lost all vision my left eye (it does happen in about 5% of such cases), I have learned about the result of macular degeneration complicated with mild to violent concussions.

This happens to football players, motorcycle and auto racers the older the more dangerous for the vision it is. In most cases, the retina can be re-attached and some vision (albeit greatly deformed) returns. In some cases, it's lights out.

My sympathy to you. I do at least know that with only one effective eye one's vision and judgement of angles, widths and distances in general can be amazingly good. When I was 20 a large bang on the bonce from a car windscreen triggered (I was to discover many years later) a 'traumatic cataract' in my right eye. I thank the lord there was no indication of retinal detachment at the time, nor, when the cataract finally matured some three years ago and an implant lens inserted, evidence of macular degeneration.

I wuz lucky; my vision in both eyes - I'm now deep into my 6th decade - is truly excellent.

[eldougo]

In the late 70's a young Australian racer Paul Bernasconie who raced F/F, F5000,and F3 in the UK retired due very bad vision .He did not have a big accident that i can remember but it put and to his racing career.

[Sergio Sultani]

1972 France GP- Helmuth Marko too...


SS.

[simonlewisbooks]

1920s Indy 500 and AAA star Tommy Milton was apparently born blind in one eye and when tests were brought in for drivers he got round the problem by memorizing the standard chart that was always used...
Milton it might be added, was exceptionaly successful. Monocular vicion didn't seem to affect adversely his ability to race at the ultra high speeds being cahcived onb board tracks at that time (the fastest lap of a board track in the late 20s with a Miller 91 was over 140mph average).

Didn't Thomas Danielsson temporarily lose his licence in the late 80s when it was found that although he had two functioning eyes they didn't give proper 3-D vision? Quite how that works I cannot imagine but he came back and promptly won the F3000 event at Silverstone at a canter from the likes of Irvine, Van der Peole and Comas.
What happened to him after that?

[Huw Jadvantich]

It is popularly believed that Bruce McLaren's steadyness at the wheel of an F1 car towards the end of his career was due to having so much on his plate, but he also was loosing the edge on his sight.
At one GP drivers' eye test (Monza I think) they told him to put his hand over one eye and read the chart, which he did. they then asked him to cover the other eye. Knowing that this one was a bit dodgy, McLaren simply put his other hand over the same eye as the first time and read the chart to them again.

I think this proved that it wasn't his cranial dexterity that was behind his apparent loss of pace.

[ian senior]

Originally posted by Huw Jadvantich
It is popularly believed that Bruce McLaren's steadyness at the wheel of an F1 car towards the end of his career was due to having so much on his plate, but he also was loosing the edge on his sight.
At one GP drivers' eye test (Monza I think) they told him to put his hand over one eye and read the chart, which he did. they then asked him to cover the other eye. Knowing that this one was a bit dodgy, McLaren simply put his other hand over the same eye as the first time and read the chart to them again.

I think this proved that it wasn't his cranial dexterity that was behind his apparent loss of pace.

I think it's fairly well known that one of Bruce's eyes was weaker than the other - and that's a common problem, shared by me as well as countless others - but never before have I heard that his sight was deteriorating to an extent that impaired his racing. Is this true or just a theory? And when did this happen - remember, he was still winning F1 races two years before he was killed. And Can-Am races after that.

[Huw Jadvantich]

Theory, but not of mine, just one I've repeated. It was certainly late in his career, but I can't find the reference.
I too have now got one eye weaker than the other, but then I'm not competing in GP cars!
I am certain that in my case what is considered as 'normal' deterioration in eye sight has an effect on driving 'awareness'.
Gilles Villeneuve was reported as developing his eye focus speed by excercises in a set up he had at home where he competed with himself on how quickly he could take his focus from peropheral vision to straight ahead and back, as well as to where the instruments would be.
Did Jaques V use contacts? he wore glasses off track. Is it Sebastian Bourdais who has just won the CART championship wearing spectacles?

[RA Historian]

Sebastien Bourdais has won the last three Champ Car (NOT CART!) titles in a row and very convincingly too. He of course wears specs all the time.

On a related matter, Jim Jeffords, US race driver of the late 50s, was blind in one eye. That did not prevent him from winning the SCCA B Production Championship in both 1958 and 1959 in a Corvette, three major races in 1959 in a Scarab, the Havana GP in 1960 in a Corvette, and the 1960 Road America USAC 200 in the Maserati T-60 'streamliner'. He told me that he did a lot of bluffing over the years, including making frequent use of the "switching hands but not the eye" gambit for eye tests. He said that he was going through the physical at LeMans in 1960, where he was to drive a Maserati T-61 for Camoradi, and he thought that they were on to his switching hands ploy. So, when the cute young nurse asked him to do it again, with her watching closely, he put a hand down and gave her a rude pinch on the derriere which caused her to jump and to declare the test over! Whatever works! Jim did drive in the race, but was a DNF when co-driver Lucky Casner put the birdcage in the sand and the gearbox ingested too much sand to continue.

[FLB]

I'm surprised Keir hasn't shown with the old 'Chris Amon passing Chuck Hulse at Fuji' story. Hulse was blind in the right eye and deaf in the right ear. He collided with Amon when the Kiwi tried to pass him on the right.

[redfred64]

peter collins was nearly blinded when after being caught by fangio in the 1957 german grand prix and fangios maserati flicked up a stone and hit collins goggles. the goggles split, but collins survived for another year...


chris amon was also blinded (sort of) when, while leading the 1973 italian grand prix, he attemped to tear a strip off his visor, and pulled the whole thing off. he did well to recover to 6th.

[Richard Jenkins]

Sadly, John Rhodes has been blinded in one eye permanently after his massive crash last year.
He is, however, making a (slow) recovery from his other injuries.