Why Drivers Still Die In Racing Crashes

Please discuss here all your remarks and pose your questions about all racing series, except Formula One. Both technical and other questions about GP2, Touring cars, IRL, LMS, ...
mnmracer
mnmracer
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Joined: 17 Sep 2011, 23:41

Why Drivers Still Die In Racing Crashes

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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.P

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.P

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

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turbof1
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Joined: 19 Jul 2012, 21:36
Location: MountDoom CFD Matrix

Re: Why Drivers Still Die In Racing Crashes

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Interesting article. Good find!

We had a slight off-topic discussion in the 2009-2015 about safety. I got to the same conclusion the driver is the weakest part, no matter how fast cars are. I think it is also difficult to keep continueing developing safety without the occasional tragic accident to point to us where we need to improve. I know that sounds cynical, but the only solution to keep a driver completely away from any risk is to keep him out of the cockpit :( .
#AeroFrodo

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WhiteBlue
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Joined: 14 Apr 2008, 20:58
Location: WhiteBlue Country

Re: Why Drivers Still Die In Racing Crashes

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Very good indeed. Also a pretty clear statement on the likely cause of Allan Simonsen's death by rapid deceleration.
Formula One's fundamental ethos is about success coming to those with the most ingenious engineering and best .............................. organization, not to those with the biggest budget. (Dave Richards)