Not only is it important to have and use safety equipment,
it is also important to install it correctly.

The following video depicts a fortunate outcome after
things went wrong during a 1/4 mi run where the car's
safety equipment was inadequately installed.

Luckiest Man Alive

.

Most of the accidents I see at the strip are from people that don't know when to say when.

Why the hell did he get back on the throttle?

and to think someone was watching Norm Abrams...

that is the perfect storm... EVERYTHING went wrong. That car was a death trap.... and he was lucky to escape its grasp.

I was waiting for the train to come along and obliterate it...

and wondering where the hell that guy came from and why he wasn't running to help.

Quote:

I was wandering if the safety device that failed was the throttle return spring.

Oh and yea while watching the car flip over and over I noticed the guy standing in the field and started wandering if he was the lucky one cause he did not get hit by the car that just rolled past. Hmm I guess he was at that.

It's truly amazing how important (and difficult) it is to properly install harnesses, roll bars, racing seats, etc. so that they perform as intended.

Upon the installation of my cage I re-did the harnesses and various other parts of my car's safety system. The Schroth installation manual is about 60 pages long, and at least 30 of those pages were relevant to my specific hardware.

The worst part is that I've had harnesses, etc. in my car for the last 6 years, and half of it was installed in violation of various rules. Why was it installed incorrectly? Laziness. Soooo stupid.

Now I am in violation of exactly 0 rules and will have the best protection possible should a collision ever happen.

The good news is that the new, fancy Schroth 6 point harnesses I installed no longer crush my junk...That's worth every penny spent and hour it took to install them correctly.

Yea, doing SCCA tech, I've seen some really strange things with belt mounting. And driven some cars where the lap belts actually ended up hurting my hips.
Are your submarine belts clip in of the lace thru (formulacar style)?

The lap belt latches go through the sub belts so the wrap around the thigh instead of go up the middle and clip in.

Much more comfortable than the old style.

http://www.hmsmotorsport.com/store/sc ... etition/hybrid/hybrid-III

So, his seat wasn't bolted down, and his belts weren't bolted down either.

He blew it in every way. Not really a perfect storm, it was only a matter of time for someone driving like that.

His throttle didn't break, he backed out of it entirely and got back in it.






As far as safety goes, there'll be people using equipment improperly at any level of racing. Hopefully it doesn't result in them losing control and taking you out if you're the prepared one.

Look what happened to Dale Earnhardt with his loose seatbelts... He probably raced that way for 20 years before it did him in.

Quote:

I've used the Schroth HANS belts before but hadn't seen the hybrid. Looks like they're a little easier to hook up that the formula style.
And the cost less than my Willans.
Are they FIA approved? Or just SFI.

You know I don't know how many times i've gone off about how crappy someone has their belts installed. Its amazing not just how many individuals but how many shops will put out a crap installation and call it safe.

Yea, I've seen a lot of crap installations.
On saturday, I've got 60+ cars to tech for SCCA.
I won't let an unsafe car on the track but also I won't be a prick.