Ok, here we go, opening a can of worms. After being witness to the crash at GVAT on Saturday night (Glad to see Ryan was OK) and seeing a couple of flips at Kutztown last night. How many guys are keeping their Helmets and Belts up to date. The reason I'm asking is no one from the track, does a safety check on this stuff. Last year at Kutztown my belts, helmet, and uniform were checked before I was allowed on the track. This year nothing. So I could be running out of date belts or a helmet. I know helmets are the last 2 Snell tested years. Belts are 2 years? Correct?
I know people will think I'm bashing these tracks, but really I don't want to see any drivers/racers hurt. Besides myself, I have a couple of family members racing and they know how much I get after them to make sure their belts are tight and all safety equipment is used when going out on the track. Ask them I'm sure they will tell you I'm a pain in the A$$!!
Again not bashing, just trying to keep safety in the mindset of everybody so we can come back next week.
Kevin

I was courious as to why they dont make the young guns 390 cars put a cross bar in the top of the roll cage,with no wings if one of them gets upside down and another car hits them in the cage the front bumper could possible go it the cage and hit the driver in the head.Maybe it has to happen before it will be a rule !!

the racers should be responsible for self-policing themselves. It is embarassing to go to these PA tracks in the sticks where there are guys walking around with no shirt on and their suit tied around their waist. talk about re-enforcing the negative stereotypes about hillbilly racecar drivers. i dont care if you're riding around out there with garden twine holding you in the car and a leather helmet, i bet you'll be running at the back though. the only thing i care about is when other idiots are a danger to myself and the other RESPONSIBLE racers out there. the main safety concern is drivers with their heads up their rear-ends and P.O.S. racecars that don't belong anywhere near a racetrack. Don't tell me that I need a HANS or a bladder or a full containment seat...I will make that decision for myself..Just make sure you dont have crap hangin off your car when you show up at the track each week.

no one in our area runs a rock guard. To me this is crazy a $20 item that keeps parts from other cars from hitting you. I am sure at some point we will hear about a peice of lead or something comming off a car an smacking the guy behind. just makes since to protect yourself and the other guy the best you can.

I was courious as to why they dont make the young guns 390 cars put a cross bar in the top of the roll cage,with no wings if one of them gets upside down and another car hits them in the cage the front bumper could possible go it the cage and hit the driver in the head.Maybe it has to happen before it will be a rule !!

I could be wrong, but wouldn't this make a proper backboard removal almost impossible?

I was courious as to why they dont make the young guns 390 cars put a cross bar in the top of the roll cage,with no wings if one of them gets upside down and another car hits them in the cage the front bumper could possible go it the cage and hit the driver in the head.Maybe it has to happen before it will be a rule !!

idk how much does the bumper stick out can it realy get in there? would it hit the head. your suposed to be a lil bit from the top of teh cage for belt flex and what is wrong with belts older than 2 years i run them longer than that and i will tell you that i am not affraid. thats alot of money not worth it they don't go bad that quick you race 20 races a year and i only weigh 125 im not putting alot of strain on my belts some people race around 100 times per year they have 200 races on there belts i have 50 after 2 years i don't see y that should be a rule.

idk how much does the bumper stick out can it realy get in there? would it hit the head. your suposed to be a lil bit from the top of teh cage for belt flex and what is wrong with belts older than 2 years i run them longer than that and i will tell you that i am not affraid. thats alot of money not worth it they don't go bad that quick you race 20 races a year and i only weigh 125 im not putting alot of strain on my belts some people race around 100 times per year they have 200 races on there belts i have 50 after 2 years i don't see y that should be a rule.

It is the exposure to the environment that deteriorates the nylon the webbing is made from. The webbing will lose approximately half its strength after one year. Thus the SFI has set a standard that seat belts to be re-webbed and re-certified or replaced every 2 years.

http://www.sfifoundation.com/speclist.html

the racers should be responsible for self-policing themselves. It is embarassing to go to these PA tracks in the sticks where there are guys walking around with no shirt on and their suit tied around their waist. talk about re-enforcing the negative stereotypes about hillbilly racecar drivers. i dont care if you're riding around out there with garden twine holding you in the car and a leather helmet, i bet you'll be running at the back though. the only thing i care about is when other idiots are a danger to myself and the other RESPONSIBLE racers out there. the main safety concern is drivers with their heads up their rear-ends and P.O.S. racecars that don't belong anywhere near a racetrack. Don't tell me that I need a HANS or a bladder or a full containment seat...I will make that decision for myself..Just make sure you dont have crap hangin off your car when you show up at the track each week.

Would you have them selfpolice for performance rules too? Asking racers to self police does not work. While there are plenty of racers who will make the effort to have up to date equipment you and I both know that there are plenty that won't spend the money. There is one reply to this thread already that doesn't think he needs new belts more then.... This being the case if you want racing to continue we need to have rules in place and enforced to policy our ranks. Keep people from getting hurt and continuing doing what we love to do won't need to be defended. If we have a rash of injury or deaths (and don't fool yourself that it can't happen as evidenced by the young man dying while in his backyard and yes I know his belts weren't fastened and if they don't hold in a crash it's the same thing) we will be scrutinized. Look at New Jersey as a sample of what can happen when too many things go wrong.

I wasn't at GVAT last week when supposedly there was a fire and the driver had no fireproof underwear on, and I hear he got burned some. Whether that is true or not, I don't know, but safety should be the main concern of all those at the track, whether it be driver, car owner, promoter, or whoever. And, as far as I'm concerned, if there is no ambulance on duty, then the EMT's should be in the infield where they can get to an injured driver quickly, not up in the stands. Yes, there should be some type of safety inspection at all tracks. I'd love to see what the insurance policies call for, safety wise, like for ambulance and/or fire equipment with trained personel.

I could be wrong, but wouldn't this make a proper backboard removal almost impossible?

It would if they didn't have something to cut the cage with. I think must emergency response units have form of Jaws of Life anymore. Even with a normal cage sometimes this is difficult and they cut the cage. I would like to
have my car cut up but if that's what you got to do for the protection and emergency response for the driver so be it.

yes i did not know y they should be changed now i know i thaught it was just another thing to make money on thanks for the info.

after a wreck like we had last week, im glad our gear is up to date.
im sure it was a good factor in keeping ryan safe.

as far as the fire, i thought it was a radiator. fire suits dont do much for boiling water.

tracks should check you once then sticker your car, then your on your own the rest of the year

I would like to see a beginning of the year or your first time to the track inspection. Sticker the car and your good for the year or until you have a significant crash. Then equipment is checked again. This would give an opportunity to check the mounting of belts and seats to make sure that all mounts are as they should be and if the belts were "used" they should be replaced.
I come from a motorcycle background and that sport is going through a fair amount of growing pains in the field of safety right now. The number of individuals that don't want to upgrade track safety and say that the sport is inherintly dangerous is stunning to me. The upgrades available right now in roadracing are not cheap but have the potential to save lives and futures of nearly anyone racing on a road course.

We mandate a 3 year life span on belts with out series. Some belt companies say 2 years, some 3. Also with the overhead bar, we also mandate a min. of 3 inch clearance from the top of the roll cage to the drivers head (with helmet). If they can not meet this, they must put an overhead bar in to insure the 3 inches. We also do a 5 point safety check before every race, heats included, where drivers are made to check their belts, helmet, stearing wheel, and arm restraints. You would be amazed how many times drivers forget things and are caught by the safety check.

yea when i was at LVQMRC in my 1/4 midget when i was 5-7 years old they did a check before every race made you put your hands up and made shure your hands can't go out of the frame and grabbed your steeing wheel.

they say you should basically throw your belts away after a hard impact because lets say they are 3 inch belts and they can stretch so much that the width is 2 3/4's even 2 5/8s then the belts did a lot of stretching. The simpson rep told me at least measure them after a hard wreck no matter what to make sure they havent stretched out that much on you.


also I understand that the sport is already expensive but maybe instead of getting a brand new frame every year or brand new whatever it may be every year getting nice safety gear. everyone talks about how expensive the sport is but cars motors wings can be replaced a life cannot.