It's honestly amazing to me the level of engineering achievement that goes into NASCAR safety. This is wild...
NASCAR Wreck in Slow Motion
- Thread starter SamSwimmer
- Start date
Keep in mind that level of safety today is because of past deaths that didn't have to happen. The "Car of Tomorrow" in 2007 is when things really got better for safety.
That car flip flopped more than the libs and libertarians on this board. A huge shoutout to the crew that built that car.
That’s one of the main reasons this guy walked away.
Yep.
Also worth noting: no driver has died of a basal skull fracture since the HANS device became mandated.
I remember hearing Earnhardt Jr describing what it's like to be in a bad NASCAR wreck. No surprise, it's so fast you don't really have time to fully process it. It's just dirt, sky, dirt, sky, etc...& then you get out.
This is what Dale Earnhardt wore. Wonder if he would have survived wearing a better helmet and harness?
No a better helmet wouldn't have saved him due to the seat belt failureThis is what Dale Earnhardt wore. Wonder if he would have survived wearing a better helmet and harness?
No he hates the Hans device or anything like that. Not sure that would have saved him going 200 mph and the seat belt failing.
The belt that was broken was a lower body portion of the harness. He died from a fracture to the base of his skull. He did have the HANS device.
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The seven-time Winston Cup champion died of a fracture to the base of his skull when he crashed between Turns Three and Four on the final lap. The broken left seat belt was discovered during an investigation of Earnhardt's wrecked Chevrolet Monte Carlo on Sunday night. The belt was new and installed in the car when it was built last November.
"Our investigation indicates that a broken left lap seat belt came apart," said NASCAR president Mike Helton in a press conference at Rockingham, North Carolina. "We don't know why, we don't know how, we don't know when it broke. We aren't going to speculate today on theories, we aren't going to address any judgement or speculation. We will continue our investigation. We will do our best to come up with as many answers as possible."
Helton stopped short of laying the responsibility of the material of the belt breaking on the manufacturer or the preparation of the race car.
"We are not going to address any specifics right now," added Helton. "It goes back to jumping to judgements or conclusions that are not founded yet so we are not going to talk about the manufacturers names of anything like that. If we had a definitive answer that we could be certain, we would give it to you. But we are not right now. What we are not able to do is give you much more information."
As well as the fractured skull, Monday's autopsy report also revealed that Earnhardt suffered eight broken ribs, a broken sternum and a broken left ankle, consistent with him being flung forward and to the right.
Dr. Steve Bohannon, the head of emergency medical services at Daytona International Speedway, believes Earnhardt could have hit his chin on the steering wheel, causing the major head injury which killed him.
"It appears this allowed his body to move forward and it appears that probably his chin struck the steering column in such a way that the forces were transmitted up the mandible on each side to fracture the base of his skull," said Bohannon, who was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the fatal crash. "Of course, the chest hitting would account for the rib fractures on his left side. He would have had a much better chance to survive if the belt had not broken."
Unlike the majority of drivers, who choose to use the latest in kevlar seat technology, Earnhardt had an old-fashioned approach to his preferred seat. The Intimidator preferred a low-set seat fabricated from metal, although there is no indication that this became detached in the accident.
Broken seat belt caused Earnhardt’s death
NASCAR has announced today (Friday) that one of Dale Earnhardt’s seat belts broke, causing the fatal injuries in his crash during Sunday’s Daytona 500.
www.autosport.com
