Topic: Auto racing needs safer standards (warning, not for the feint of heart)

[Bloodreign]

http://youtu.be/Sn08nh7zoto

Why oh why doesn't Indy racing have safer standards for their drivers, Dan Wheldon died (he was 32), and at 3:40 you can see the view from inside his car as it turns into a fireball. Not for the squeamish.

[Opium]

What gets me is how many people use words like 'shocking' or 'disbelief' when someone dies in an accident like this.  What's shocking or surprising abut someone getting hurt/killed while knowingly doing something that's very dangerous?

[Gunlord]

Well, sure, you have a point, Opium, but it's not as if anybody gets into these racecars *expecting* to die. On a rational level people know these things happen, but on an emotional level it's still a gut punch. :/

[X]

If they'd just get rid of those gas powered engines and replace them with something much safer then the racers wouldn't have to worry about their cars turning into fireball deathtraps. I blame the big oil companies for every racer that dies due to such accidents.

[Mooning Freddy]

That may sound cruel, but my comment on the subject is "if you can't stand the heat, get away from the kitchen".
Car racing is an EXTREMELY dangerous sport, and the car racers are fully aware that the possibility of getting killed for them is very high. Those people race at speeds over 150 mph. At those speeds, any collision might be deadly. You may talk about higher safety standards, but that's a minor. The sport itself is dangerous. That's no curling, you know.

[Bloodreign]

Try 225 MPH, and that was just for qualifying laps for pole position. F1 has put some safety measures in place, and there hasn't been a death since Ayrton Senna back in 1994, and in NASCAR since Dale Earnhardt Sr. back in 2001. These last two have put in plenty of safety measures, since then, not another death.

[X]

If we look back to the history of racing, we'd actually find that it was far more dangerous  when they first started then as we see them now. Why? The automobile was still in its infancy and somewhat unstable. Also the tracks they built to race on were nothing more the nailed down wooded planks or 2x4s. The track would wear out very quickly causing wood splinters, missing planks and even rusty nails to stick out all over the place. And heaven help you if your fast, slightly unstable car hit one of those hazards  You would be all over the track with serious road-rash, impalement by those splinters or or rusty nails (tetanus shots a-comin') and getting even more beat up by the on-coming racers. People would lose limbs and even there lives.

[Kale]

If they'd just get rid of those gas powered engines and replace them with something much safer then the racers wouldn't have to worry about their cars turning into fireball deathtraps. I blame the big oil companies for every racer that dies due to such accidents.

Do you blame car manufacturers too for not adding protection to the car to keep it light? I doubt something much safer would have as much power, so you can be safe and last every time. It's a known thing, they enter it knowing the dangers, and if they didn't then they are fools. I hope this doesn't become something like Tom Brady's football where a brush is considered illegal contact or some other nonsense.

[X]

Do you blame car manufacturers too for not adding protection to the car to keep it light? I doubt something much safer would have as much power, so you can be safe and last every time.

In racing it's to be expected to have light vehicles cause they can accelerate faster in a short period of time. It's also why they're equipped with spoilers so they don't fly right off the track like an aircraft. In terms of power it is not necessary for a race. Racing is all about speed. You don't need power unless you intend to haul a heavy load.

It's a known thing, they enter it knowing the dangers, and if they didn't then they are fools.

I wholeheartedly agree. They take their lives into their own hands every single time they "fire up" those cars.

[Kale]

In racing it's to be expected to have light vehicles cause they can accelerate faster in a short period of time. It's also why they're equipped with spoilers so they don't fly right off the track like an aircraft. In terms of power it is not necessary for a race. Racing is all about speed. You don't need power unless you intend to haul a heavy load.

That's what I meant when I said power.

[X]

That's what I meant when I said power.

Ah okay